Legacy
by Claire O'Mack
Summary: When their ship is lost the Crew of the Legacy must try to find a way home in a world which is only out to kill them. Sucked into the Bermuda triangle can they get back without changing the cause of their own history. Pretty AU Mickie/Cast
1. Captain James i presume

OK New story, this is heavily AU but does contain our favourite wrestlers just in a different setting.

I am going out on a bit of a limb here so if you think it is rubbish then let me know but this idea has been bugging me for a while so I thought I might just knock out a chapter.

On we go, as ever I own nothing blah blah blah.

LEGACY (I know slightly unimaginative I'm rubbish at titles)

Captain Mickie James stood on the bridge of her shiny new ship and stared out over the blue ocean. It was quite for now, none of her crew had boarded yet and she was allowed a moment alone with her ship before she greeted her crew.

It was her first command, she had served under one of the most experienced Captain's in the Us Navy for two years and finally she had been given her own ship.

She was brand new, 500ft from bow to stern, sleek like a fighter jet and beautiful like an Arabian stallion. She had all the latest technology on board. Sonar infer red imaging, heat guided missiles and underwater eco location. She was state of the art and she was all Mickie's.

"Beauty isn't she." Mickie jumped at the voice of Admiral McMahon and she spun round to see him leaning in the doorway with a wide grin on his face.

"Yes she is, it's a shame we are only going to stretch her sea legs so to speak." Mickie said as she strode across the bridge and over to where the Admiral was waiting for her. They were due to take the ship on training exercises for one week in the Atlantic just of the coast of Florida, it was a test mission, locate and get Intel on fake planted drones which were well hidden out there in the deep and often dangerous Atlantic. A job Mickie could have done in her sleep.

"I know but we need to make sure not only is the ship working but the crew is right for the job." Admiral McMahon said as he walked though the corridors towards the open doors at the bow.

"You mean if her Captain is up to the job." Mickie said turning to the Admiral and giving him an icy stare. It was no secret that some of the personnel in the US Navy did not like women captaining their ships and Admiral McMahon was one of them.

"I didn't say that, maybe we should go meet some of your crew I think they are just about to board." He said taking Mickie by the elbow and leading her to the on ramp that came from the dock to the starboard side of the ship.

Mickie greeted the boarding crew one by one. Some of them she recognised from various meetings, others she had seen socially, but none of them she had previously served with before.

"And this is your first officer, Commander Randy Orton." The Admiral introduced the two officers as Randy stepped on board and took Mickie's hand.

"I have heard a lot about you Commander, I hope you can serve me as well as the other captains you have worked for." Mickie said shaking his hand firmly as she looked in to his bright blue eyes. She saw a spark of something there, but having just met him she was unsure of just how to read it.

"I am sure I can Captain." He said releasing her hand and throwing a bag over his shoulder disappeared into the ship.

Mickie turned to look at the Admiral and sighed. "Why Orton, I here he can be a bit of a trouble maker?" She said still glancing around for the one crew member she knew was coming and her only real ally on board.

"He is a good first officer and he has no agenda, he was offered his own ship and he turned it down, he said he didn't want the big chair just yet, he wanted this." He said and Mickie gave him a genuine smile as she saw Mr Debasie running up the ramp lugging a huge suit case behind him.

"Sorry I am late Captain had to grab some last minute supplies, then my dad caught me and you know what he is like when he gets going." Mickie could help but smile at her Tactical officer but she knew she had to stop his rant.

"Lieutenant Commander you're rambling." She said cutting him off mid stride and giving him a stern but smiling look.

"Sorry Captain, Admiral I better go get ready." He said as he dragged his bag onto the ship and left Mickie alone with the Admiral.

"She is all your Captain, bring her home in one piece and good luck." He said as he disembarked and the ramp was retracted.

"I will admiral." Mickie said as she closed the door and made her way down to the engine room.

Her chief engineer had been on board all day running a systems check, along with her staff. Mickie had met the hot headed woman before and she liked her, not only because she was a fabulous mechanic but she was funny and she enjoyed bossing the men around almost as much as Mickie herself did. Walking into the engine room everything was buzzing, the crew ran from station to station checking equipment and computers.

" Lieutenant Perez report." Mickie barked as she spotted her hunched over the drive shaft.

Melina Perez sprang up almost colliding with a support beam as she went.

"Damm it, sorry Captain. We are ready when you are." She replied as she ducked once more to check on her engines. The ship had a new special drive, the ship normally would travel at up to thirty not's, fast for a ship this size but when Mickie decided she wanted more speed a turbo could be called upon for short periods of time which meant they could travel as fast as forty not's in calm waters.

Heading back up to the bridge she decided it was time to get this boat moving and as she exited the lift the Ensign on the bridge called.

"Captain on the bridge." And she could help but swell with pride.

"At ease people, Lieutenant Rhodes set us on a heading West 6 by 36 degrees ahead quarter speed, lets take it nice slow to start with helms man." She said grinning at the young man at the controls and he turned to smile back at her.

"Aye Aye M'arm" he said pressing the controls and Mickie felt the engines roar to life the ship gave a slight shudder as the rudder turned the large ship away from the dock. As they hit the open water and the waves eased out the ship began to glide though the water and Mickie relaxed her muscles.

"Pretty successful launch if I do say so M'arm." Randy Orton said from his seat to her left as she stood to look out of the front view port at the wide open ocean before them.

"I will agree with that Commander. Lets give her a little work out shall we? Mr Rhodes up to half speed baring 36 by 45 head straight for the Florida peninsular." Mickie said sitting down in her chair as she heard the subtle change in the engine sound to indicate they had sped up.

"Pretty soft ride for a new girl." Ted Debasie said from his position at tactical earning him an approving glance from his Capitan.

"Indeed Debasie I think we have found ourselves a keeper here." Mickie replied as she could here the crew whispering and examining everything.

Yes the Legacy was indeed a fine ship and Mickie was in love.

"Approaching our first set of co-ordinates Captain." Cody Rhodes said as he slowed the ship down waiting for his next orders. He loved this new ship, she was light handled well and it was a privilege to be the man at the helm, he had heard plenty about Captain James. Some said she was only where she was because of her father, others said she was a brilliant leader, he had decided to make up his own mind.

"Thank you Lieutenant. Take us down to one third speed and full sonar scan of the area." Mickie said standing up and going over to her Tactical officer. "Mr Debasie keep your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary, some of this equipment maybe booby trapped." She said giving him a quick wink as she went over to the ensign at the operations desk. "Ensign Morrison make sure you scan grid by grid I don't want to miss anything, I want to know if a barnacle has attached it's self to our hull, understand." She barked at the young man trying to keep the grin off her face as he sat up very straight in his chair and snapped out.

"Yes Captain."

Mickie turned on her heel to join Randy in the centre of the bridge as they both check on their own screens how the scans were progressing.

"You know, I think this ship will be wasted intelligence gathering, what's say we go blow up a few sunken Russian submarines while we are out here." The Commander said as Mickie raised an eye brow as the Commander broke out in a grin.

"I will pretend I never heard that Mr Orton." She said offering him a small smile back as a small beep from Ted's display sounded.

"M'arm, I'm not sure but I think there is a ship out there." He said as the image then disappeared.

"What do you mean think?" She said coming to look over his shoulder and staring at the blank display.

"The readings are funny one minutes it's there the next its gone." He said tapping some keys to enhance the sonar sensors.

"Could they be going in and out of range?" She said as again the other object appeared on screen for a second.

"Unlikely the image is too large." Ted replied as he switched to infer red scanners and increased their sensitivity.

"Lets see if we can't get closer anyway. Mr Rhodes ahead quarter speed nice and slow, I don't want to start a fight without knowing who I am fighting with." Mickie said as she came forward and looked out of the window but there was nothing out there.

Randy went to monitor Ted's displays as he watched the scanners showing nothing, then a flash, then another.

The whole ship jolted to the left tossing everyone who was standing up off their feet and causing bit of equipment to fall off the desks.

"Report! Have we been fired upon!" Mickie barked as everyone scramble back t6o their seats to find out what had happened.

"Negative must have been a rogue wave." Randy said getting to the operations station first and observing no damage.

"Captain to the engine room is everything ok down there." Mickie said finding the communications radio and hitting the button for main engineering.

"A little shook up but nothings broken Captain, what's going on up there?" Melina replied her voice sounded strained, but she was unhurt.

"We don't know yet, as soon as I do you will too." Mickie said placing the radio back as she looked up she followed six pairs of eyes out of the main window.

"Don't think we need our scanners anymore Captain." Ted said as Mickie looked at the battle cruiser looking back at them.

There was something odd about the ship, it was old in design, big heavy, and the guns were old fashioned 30 mag auto machine guns. The bridge was high above the decks and was all glass fronted. How they had gotten so close so quickly was beyond Mickie as she tried to shake off the fog in her brain and act.

"Scan their ship and open a radio channel I want to know what they are doing in American waters." She said striding into the centre of the bridge and ordering Cody for a full stop.

"This is Captain Mickie James of the US Legacy please identify yourselves." For a moment there was only static and Mickie glanced at Randy who had a frown on his face as she snapped her attention back to the window as they got a reply.

"Unknown vessel this is high commander Sambo and you are in our waters, what is your colour?" The mans voice was crisp and angry, Mickie did not recognise him or his ship, plus he had just said that they were in his waters. She knew that to be untrue unless the other ship was lost.

"Our colour is not important your co-operation is you are currently in US waters and we ask that you identify yourselves." Mickie said once more keeping her voice as calm as possible.

"Colour is the most important thing, and these are not American waters, the Cherokees have no waters, these waters belong to the united African nations, and I need to know your colour." Mickie cut off the audio and turned to Ted who was looking a bit confused at his charts.

"Well Lieutenant Commander?" Mickie said tapping her fingernails on her desk.

"The ship is similar in design to a world war 2 English battle ship. Steal hull limited torpedo capabilities hard to tell top speed but I would say 15 to 20 with a following wind. They are no match for us M'arm." Ted said as he watched the Captain pick the radio back up and paused for a second.

"Commander confirm our position."

"We are 20 degrees north 60 miles out of the Florida peninsular Captain." He said sure that their readings were accurate and checking them himself twice.

"Answer us or we will be forced to open fire." High Commander Sambo bellowed down the radio. "What is your colour?"

Mickie frowned and scrunched up her face. "Our colour is Caucasian, but it makes no different you are in our waters and you are either lost or." Before she could finish the booming voice came across the channel almost knocking Mickie off balance.

"You are white slaves, prepare to be boarded you insolent rebels." Then there was only silence.

"What in the world." Ted said as he looked from Mickie to Randy in confusion.

"Something weird is going on here." Randy said as he looked down at Mickie as she turned to Cody.

"Come about Mr Rhodes all ahead full."

"Captain?" He questioned knowing that their ship was capable of destroying the other vessel if necessary, but she was choosing to run.

"Some times discretion is the better part of valour Lieutenant. Now come about all ahead full. I am not firing on another ship when I don't even know who they are." She said sitting down heavily in her chair and watched as the other ship disappeared from there radar.

"They are getting away Commander shall we follow them?" The dark man said to his even darker Commander on board their ship as it watched the new strange vessel disappear over the horizon.

"No they cannot get far, it is an odd looking ship, fast I have never seen one like it before. Send me a prisoner I need to know what their rebel friends have come up with to out smart us this time." He chuckled as he stood up and breezed off the bridge and out in to the bowels of the ship.

Mickie had scanned and re scanned the area, everything was the same but no one was responding to their calls. Not the US Navy, not the USAF no one all they were getting was static, not even any other ships were replying and this was making Mickie extremely nervous.

"Look I know I am not exactly an expert on the paranormal or anything, but you do know that we were right on top of the Bermuda triangle when we suffered that strange rogue wave." Ted said finally as no one could come up with any explanation as to why they seem to be all alone all of a sudden. Mickie snapped her head in his direction and gave him a warning glare.

"I think that is enough speculation for one day don't you Mr Debasie." She said as Randy stood and came over to her position.

"You know it would explain a lot. We have no scans of other ships in the area, the infer red say there is also no planes in the sky, and that ship we met was hardly scared of us not to mention it practically popped up out of no where. Something is going on here Captain, and right now I am not going to rule anything out." Mickie couldn't believe what she was hearing these were trained professionals and they were talking about getting sucked into the Bermuda triangle.

"Look I admit there is something wrong but it is probably the equipment, it is new it hasn't been tested under these conditions and we have lost contact with main command, we have not slipped in to an episode of the twilight zone." Mickie said feeling slightly frustrated as another radio channel came up with only back ground static.

Switching to wide band Mickie broad cast her message once more.

"This is Captain Mickie James of the US Navel vessel Legacy to any US ships in the area please respond." At first there was a crackle then a noise.

"State your colour." The voice was softer than before but had a cautious tone to it.

"Not this again." Mickie said over her shoulder to no one in particular.

"Does it matter identify yourselves." She snapped back getting impatient.

"It matters state your colour." Mickie knew that there was only one way she was going to find out what was going on here and that was to play along, and if she had to fight.

"We are white."

"What and your on a wide receiving channel, if you get caught but the UAN you will be killed on site." He said this time they were not threatened and Mickie was relieved that she had gotten somewhere.

"Who are the UAN? And why would they want to kill us?" She asked keeping her voice soft as she realised she may be speaking to the rebels the other ship had spoken about.

"The UAN United African Nations, they who control everything, our very survival, whether we live or die and if you are worthy as slaves or as meat, how do you not know all this, have you just come from the moon or something?" The man asked more confusion and amusement in his voice now as he grew more confident.

"Not the moon no but I think we are from a long way away. Where are you I would like to meet you exchange information." Mickie said knowing she needed to know more before she could make a decision and these people at least seemed friendly.

"We shall come to you, please remain still we will be with you shortly, if you attempt to contact anyone else we shall not come." The man said and Mickie had to shrug her shoulders.

"Come on over, we will not move a muscle." Mickie said as the radio link was severed.

"Ok I admit it this is looking a bit weird now." Mickie said glancing at Ted who had a smug grin on his face.

"I suggest we try to confirm his story meet him see what he his like, then go back to our previous co-ordinates and try to find our way home." Mickie said sounding more confident than she felt.

"M'arm with all due respect it might not be that easy." Ted said as he waited for her head to nod and her eyes to soften in her approval.

"Only a few ships have ever been lost in the Bermuda triangle and none of them have ever come back."

Ok what did you think, I know its out there, but I would like your opinion, should I continue, obviously there will be plenty of adventures to be had in this upside down world and I already have a few ideas but I am open for suggestions, like it love it think it could do with some lighter fluid and a propane tank let me know.

Thank you for reading.


	2. It's not possible

Ok chapter two, seems like you wanted more so here it is. I have a feeling I might have built this up too much now but hey on with the show.

Mickie decided to go into her ready room. It was a small room just off the bridge and designed for the Captain to get some quite time to do reports, hold occasion private meetings in but still be available at a moments notice on the bridge.

This time all Mickie wanted to do was think, she knew none of what her crew had been saying about the Bermuda triangle was possible, yet still she couldn't shake the feeling that they were right.

Nothing since the encounter with that other ship seamed right. Yet it didn't seem overtly wrong either, nothing was out of place, they were still in the Atlantic ocean, everyone was speaking English and the sun such as it was, was still in the sky.

Sitting down in her chair Mickie reached over an ran her fingers along her shiny new desk. She peered in to the surface and saw a worried face staring back at her, she almost didn't recognise herself.

Sitting up straight Mickie checked that her hair was still wrapped up tightly in the bull dog clip she had synched it in this morning and pulled at her jacket.

"Damm this I will not loose this ship on its first mission." She said standing up abruptly as the door chime went.

"Come in." She said, slightly louder than she had originally intended. Randy Orton opened the door and he wore a cautious smile on his face.

Randy didn't know what was going on here, but he had a pretty good suspicion, he knew that Captain James was not going to acknowledge it easily all he could do was make her burden easier. When she told him in a clean crisp voice that she would be in her ready room he knew that she was going in there to have a stern word with herself. Giving her a few minutes Randy decided to go and see her, see if they could figure this thing out together. Standing in front of her now he couldn't help but admire the beauty behind that Captains mask and he had to check himself internally at the sudden indulgence.

"Commander what can I do for you?" Mickie said leaning both hands on her desk and tipping her body towards him.

"Nothing maybe there is something I can do for you though?" He replied taking a step closer to her and letting the door swing closed behind him.

"Ok what did you have in mind?" She asked allowing a small smile to play at her lips as she watched him close the space between them.

"Maybe we could interview this man, rebel who ever he is together, I mean I know some things about this kind of thing, only what I have read, but maybe they have had people come though before, they may know how to get us back." Randy said watching Mickie's face for any sign of anger.

"Maybe, but I am still unsure as to where here is, for all we know we have stumbled on some little war game and our systems are malfunctioning." She said, but even as the words came out of her mouth they sounded false to her ears.

"I just wanted you to know your not alone Captain." Randy said as he saw her eyes soften slightly. Before they could take the conversation any further the intercom sounded.

"Go ahead Mr Debasie." Mickie replied pushing the button to contact the bridge.

"The other ship has arrived and is requesting permission to come alongside." Ted said as the doors to the ready room opened and he cut off his communication.

"Permission granted." Mickie said walking over to the lift accompanied by Randy.

"Ensign Morrison your with us, Ted you have the bridge." She said giving her old friend a smile as he watched the doors close.

Ted watched as Cody Rhodes turned in his chair and faced him.

"You knew her before this didn't you?" The young man asked as Ted left his passion and headed down for the command chairs.

"Yes Lieutenant, our fathers were friends, we have known each other for a long time." Ted replied as Ensign Mizanin took up his post at tactical.

"Is she a good Captain?" Cody asked he had not been a Lieutenant for long and this was only his third mission, he had served under two older Captains who were either due retirement or an Admiralty, he was excited to work with such a young crew. Now they had been thrown in to this situation and he couldn't help a small part of him wishing that one of them was here right now.

"She is the best Captain I have ever worked with, and if anyone can get us out of this mess, Mickie can." Ted said without hesitation as he checked his scanners and saw that the other ship had docked with there's.

Mickie stood shoulder to shoulder with randy as they watched two of the other crew climb aboard. They seemed to visibly relax when they had seen them arrive and they were now smiling slightly as they stepped on board the Legacy.

"Captain I presume." The larger man said, offering his hand as Mickie shook it curtly. This man was almost as tall as Randy; he had a wide set jaw and big muscular arms. His companion was slighter with multi coloured hair and a soft smile.

"Yes I am Captain Mickie James this is my first officer Randy Orton, and my ensign John Morrison." Mickie said introducing her crew to their two guests.

"My name is John Cena, and this is Jeff Hardy, we don't bother with rank or title, we have no use for them." John said as Mickie escorted them inside making sure her young ensign was paying attention to their guests.

"Oh you have no ship structure?" Mickie queried as then man stopped and turned to face her.

"Captain, we have no time for structure, we are always running always hiding, it is the best we can do to survive." He said his voice beginning to crack as he tried to explain their situation.

"What I don't get is how come you are so organised, unharmed with such an incredible ship." Jeff said as he watched the lift doors open and stepped back in surprise.

"We will tell you everything, as I hope you will us, but lets take this to a more comfortable setting shall we." Mickie said holding out her arm for the two men to step on to the lift and they did with caution.

It was strange to see their reaction as the lift stated to move. Both men grabbed hold of something and looked up suspiciously. Mickie knew their reaction was not false, they had never been on a lift before and she wondered how this had happened.

Reaching the main deck Mickie led the party in to a meeting room. It was a fair size room surrounded by windows that gave a light and airy feeling to the room.

Mickie pointed to the chairs and they all took a seat. Mickie went to the head of the table a sat with her back to the ocean. She looked over her shoulder briefly as she turned to her guests and re told the brief but unbelievable story of how they came to be here.

"Your telling us that one minutes you were searching out some drones the next you are staring down the barrel of the high commanders guns and you are still here to talk about it. This must be one amazing ship." John said as he glanced around him once more.

"Yes we seem to have much more advanced technology than you do, well at least the ships we have met so far." Randy said trying not to give too much away, he knew tactical knowledge was a thing best kept close to ones chest.

"Ok now you, tell us about your story." Mickie said as she found John's eyes and held his gaze.

"We were white slaves aboard an UAN ship, we were worked hard fed very little and chained together at night to prevent us from escaping. I was fortunate I knew someone on the rebels' side, I had managed to get a message out though a courtesan girl who was given the privilege of her own room. The next day the ship we were on was attacked. Thinking it was our friends we took our chance and escaped, we were wrong though, the ship that had attacked was another UAN ship. The Captain of our ship had been giving information to the Chinese and had been found out. What they didn't know was that we were free. We stole that boat from right under their noses took of in to the ocean and never looked back." John said as Mickie listened on with disbelief. The only thing she could liken it to was the history she remembered of black slavery, but here is was like the exact opposite except it seemed to have carried on for a much longer period in their history.

"Who are the UAN when did they form?" Mickie said wanting to know more about this possibly dangerous enemy.

"They are an alliance of Jamaica its surrounding Islands and the continent of Africa. They formed their coalition over three hundred years ago. Claiming that white people were inferior. They out numbered our ancestors two to one and were a savage culture. While we painted wrote music and tried to explore our world they wanted to find power and control. We never fought back we didn't stand a chance, now recently the rebellion has started to grow in strength, with every ship we take we get one step closer to freedom." John said as Mickie saw the pride in his eyes as he spoke of their plight.

"Now with this advanced ship we could take out many of theirs, we could turn the tide on the oceans which means or people on the land will get the courage to fight back to." Jeff said looking from Randy to Mickie and back again.

"I'm sorry we can't help you fight your war, we just want to go home." Mickie said feeling a slight pang of regret at her words and the look in their eyes.

"What do you mean you won't help, surely you agree with us." John said getting up and Ensign Morrison stood up with him making his presence in the room felt.

"Of course our own history is littered with oppression, wars and unfairness, but we cannot interfere here." Mickie said glancing at her Ensign to let him know not to do anything yet.

Randy placed his hand on the table and looked into the mans eyes from across the table.

"We can't help you with your war, there is no telling what will happen to our own reality if we do anything here to change your future, if my guess is correct we have not slipped into a past or a future but a parallel reality, one that is exactly the same but different decision were made, and so outcomes changed into the world we see now. For as many decisions made there is a theory there are as many different worlds and us being here might unbalance that enough to have already changed things." Randy didn't know any of this for sure but he had a strong suspicion that he was right. Mickie had leaned back in her chair trying to take in all that had been said in the past half an hour, she didn't know what to believe but the story was so out there that she knew it must be true.

"Is there anything else you need, we could supply you with food, or medical supplies." Mickie offered as he noticed both men were carrying injuries and were fairly thin despite their muscular build. At her offer their faces softened a bit.

"Both would be very welcome. We always have problems with getting supplies, it is hard to know who to trust." John said as they stood up from the table as Mickie and Randy prepared to leave the meeting room.

"Mr Morrison would you be kind enough to arrange supplies for these gentlemen and get them to their ship." Mickie said as they shook hands as they walked on to the open deck and prepared to leave for their own ship.

"Thank you Captain, and good luck in getting home I have a feeling you are going to need it." Jeff said as they made their way over to their own ship and Mickie turned to Randy.

"Would you organise help for Mr Morrison Commander I will be on the bridge." Randy nodded his head curtly as he watched Mickie leave her stride confident and upright, but he couldn't help see the look in her eyes which told him she was feeling anything but confident.

High Commander Sambo was watching as the blonde woman's head snapped back at another blow from his hand. Blood trickled from her mouth down her jaw and her arms were wrenched painfully behind her. Yet she had told him nothing, she genuinely seemed unaware of this new ship, but Sambo was having far too much fun, this woman was one of his favourites. She was strong and beautiful and she had a high tolerance for pain and it always made their session last that bit longer.

"Take her back I am convinced she knows nothing, we shall have to find out about this ship ourselves. Get a message to the Carpathian we will go on a man hunt." Sambo said as he left the woman on the floor as she was dragged back to her feet and led back to her cell.

It had taken just over an hour to get supplies to the rebels ship, Mickie had spent that time going though battle drills with her bridge crew.

Melina had come to the bridge to offer her expertise on the matter and was now sat in the Captains ready room with a steaming hot cup of coffee.

"So do you think the new turbo drive will be as good as they say it is?" Mickie asked the Latino woman sat opposite her who had an amused look on her face.

"Should so M'arm I designed her myself." She replied looking rather pleased at that moment but she soon lost her smile as Mickie leaned forward and spoke softly.

"Good because I think we are going to need it." Mickie sat back and allowed herself to relax slightly. Her crew were good, they were ready for combat and from what they had seen so far the ships this strange new world possessed were of no real threat.

That of course did not rule out being out numbered or surprised, Mickie knew that they could never be too prepared. Emptying her cup she stood up and took in a deep breath.

"Back to work I think Lieutenant, and keep that turbo warm for me will you." Mickie said a smile on her face as the chief engineer crossed the bridge and entered the lift.

"What do you say gentlemen lets take this ship home." Mickie sat in her Captain's chair as Cody hit the controls at his desk and the legacy's engines roared to life once moor. Mickie watched as the rebels ship disappeared over the horizon and all that was in front of them now was open water.

Mickie couldn't shake the feeling however that this was just a bit too easy, looking over at Randy he saw him glance at her knowing that her eyes were on him and sitting stiffly in his chair.

"Captain?" Randy questioned as he noticed that Mickie didn't take her eyes off him.

"You feel it too don't you?" She said unsure as to what she herself was referring to, all she had was this feeling.

"I'm not sure what are you feeling?" Randy asked cautiously and quietly so not to alert the other crew members.

"Just that this is all just a little bit too easy. From what John and Jeff said these UAN are not ones to just lie back and watch, we must be interesting to them, plus we are the hated white, well most of us anyway, yet we have not seen a single ship since our first encounter." Mickie said crossing her legs and leaning her body towards Randy, he almost copied her position so they were almost shoulder to shoulder in the middle of the bridge.

"I know what you mean, the waters are just a little bit too calm." Randy replied as Ted's station began to beep.

"Large ship off the port side, coming in from a 90 degree angle will be within weapons range within ten minutes unless we increase speed." Ted said as Mickie stood up and went to Cody at the helm. Placing her hand on his shoulder she looked directly ahead.

"Mr Rhodes intercept course, half speed, it is time to show these people what they are dealing with."

"Aye Aye Captain." Cody said as he turned the ship and set in a course for the other ship.

"Once more in to the breach dear friends." Mickie whispered as the ship loomed up out of the horizon and she gripped on to the back of Cody's chair.

Hope you liked chapter two, as ever please review this story will be full of drama and adventure I hate all this explication at the start but I had to set the scene so you kind of knew what was going on.

Surprises in store as we go along to and more familiar faces too so if you want chapter three hit that review button and I will be happy to oblige.


	3. The stand

Ok chapter three, I think I am getting a square backside from all this sitting down, anyway on with the drama.

Mickie tried to stop her shaking visibly by relaxing all her muscles. It was not that she was scared, far from it, she was shaking with anticipation, and the adrenaline was rushing though her system so fast she thought her heart was going to explode though her chest.

"All stop Mr Rhodes, I think that's close enough." Mickie said as the battle ship was full in the front windows and she noticed the rest of the crew tense waiting for her next instructions.

"Open a radio channel Mr Debasie." She said as Ted's hands flew across his controls and a voice came out from the other ship.

"This is commander Ghana what is your colour?" The voice was not as booming as High commander Sambo's was but Mickie could still here the arrogance behind it.

"We are white, but I'm sure you already knew that." Mickie said as Randy came to stand next to her and offer his support silently.

"I did indeed Captain." Ghana said his voice dripping with distain as a silence hung in the air between them.

"Your ship has already become famous amongst our people, you will be lucky to survive the rest of this day." He continued as Mickie glanced at Ted who whispered.

"Same as the last one M'arm, except this one is slightly smaller, probably a bit faster.

He said as Cody poised himself over his controls ready to move them the second the order was given.

"Your ship is no match for us may I suggest you stand down." Mickie said hoping they had realised that they would not win this fight and would back down before Mickie had to make any decisions.

"Maybe alone, but against two of us, we can take you down, now we will accept nothing but your unconditional surrender." Ghana said the smile in his voice evident as Mickie cut off the audio and turned sharply to Morrison whose hands were flying over the consol.

"I can't see any thing, oh hold on." He said as he registered the tiniest of blips on his screen.

"There is another ship M'arm, barring 45 by 60 will be here with in fifteen minutes." Morrison said looking over his shoulder at the command team and seeing their anxious faces.

"Options people?" Mickie said looking around the room, but it was Randy who spoke up first.

"WE have two options Captain, we either stay and fight, or we turn and run." He said plainly and none of the others had anything else to add.

"I was afraid of that. Battle stations!" Mickie called as the ship wide alert came on and the rest of the crew scrambled to their posts.

"Load the torpedo bays; I want to disable this ship before the other one gets here." Mickie said as Ted played with his controls and set up two torpedoes.

"Captain James, we have not received your surrender yet, I assure you that against two of our ships you will loose, and if you choose to run we have hundreds of vessels out there that will hunt you down." Ghana's voice sounded irritated now and Mickie couldn't help but allow a small smile to creep on to her face.

"Commander Ghana, we shall not be giving you our surrender, we have no wish to fight in your war, we just want to go home, I give you this chance to with draw and let us pass. If you do not I will be forced to open fire on your ship." Mickie said sitting in her chair and placing both arms on the rest and crossing her legs.

A few moments went passed, it seemed like a life time to Mickie she was sure they were considering her offer, their other ship was still a good ten minutes away and a lot of damage could be done in that time.

"No white slave, let alone a woman will tell me what to do, let alone lie to me about their intentions, not part of this war, you are white rebels running a high powered ship, this ends here now today." With that the transmission was cut, Mickie snapped her head over towards Ted and swivelled in her chair slightly.

"Target their weapons Ted I don't want to kill them all, not just yet, that ship might contain the next Gandhi or something." Mickie said turning back to the helm.

"Come about Mr Rhodes full thrusters take us in the back door." Mickie said not letting the smile break out on her face as the young helmsman spun in his chair and hands flew across the controls.

The legacy sunk lower in the water, its massive rudder taking the ship almost 90 degrees before the engines kicked in and had steered around the other ship before she had time to move.

Mickie read the name down the side of the UAN ship and couldn't believe it.

"Guess they had that battle here too M'arm." Ted said as he saw Mickie's reaction to the name.

"Yeah no telling who won it though." Mickie said as she tightened her grip on the arm rests and watched as the Carpathian tried to swing its stern back towards them.

"Full throttle Mr Rhodes don't allow them to flank us keep his arse at out face." Mickie ordered as the Carpathian gained some momentum in the water.

"Do you have missile lock yet Mr Debasie?" Mickie said as she heard the gun fire bouncing off their decks but it was causing little to no damage.

"Yes M'arm." Ted said as finally his screen flashed red and he had his target.

"Then by all means fire."

The moment seemed to slow down, they all watched for a few seconds as the Carpathian once again tried to face them, this time Mickie let them come ordering Cody to push ahead full. Randy leant forward in his chair and watched as a large explosion caused a wave to rock the Legacy for a few moments.

The Carpathian was on fire on one side, it seemed they had not just taken out the weapons but had caused a reaction explosion within the ship and had left her dead in the water.

"Mr Rhodes get us out of here, set cause for the Bermuda triangle full speed."

"Aye M'arm." Cody said still feeling the rush or adrenaline running though his muscles and his hands almost shook as he laid in the new course.

"Not the other one Captain?" Randy asked wondering why Mickie had left the other ship alone when it still posed the threat.

"I think we have done enough damage for one day don't you." Mickie said standing up and going to her ready room.

Randy gave a quick glance to Ted who indicated with his head that Randy should follow her and he smiled at the Lieutenant Commander.

"You have the bridge Mr Debasie." Randy said as he made his way towards the closed doors and paused before he knocked on them.

Mickie was relieved that they had gotten away without sustaining any damage. That was damage to their ship, she didn't know what damage they may have done to their own time line or even if they had changed anything at all.

Just as she was about to take a seat there was a knock at the door and Mickie knew who it was before she spoke.

"Come in." she called as she walked around the edge of her desk and looked out of the window.

"Commander do you believe in Occam's razor?" Mickie said without looking at Randy and he was surprised that she knew he would be the one to come and see her, even though they had been together for such a short time she had already seamed to have figured him out.

"Maybe if I knew what it was." Randy said honestly, he was a soldier; he had made his way though the ranks with hard work not high test scores, but if you were in a tight spot Randy knew he would want brawn over brains to be the one hauling him out of the shit.

"It's a theory about multiple realities, it talks about infinite realties but all with physical constants, this of course was all theory before this." Mickie said arching her arm and indicating to the wide open ocean that was in view.

"So what has that got to do with us?" Randy said a little confused.

"Its like you said we have no idea how changing this reality will effect our own, like the Grandfather paradox, kill your own and your father would have never been born and so you won't exist to kill your own Grandfather." Mickie said turning to him now and looking deep into Randy's eyes.

Randy was taken back by the intensity he saw in them.

"So your saying the less of an impact we make here the more the chances are we can get back and everything will be the same, but we may not be able to do this forever." Randy said but as soon as it was out of his mouth he realised he had stated the obvious.

"I don't plan to Commander, I plan on getting us home, the sooner the better." Mickie said as she stood up straight and lifted her chin up and allowed a half smile to lift the corner of her mouth.

"What's say we go out there and find out just how close we are." She said as Randy allowed her to walk past him as he opened the door for her.

"One missile and we were dead in the water high Commander." Ghana said as he kneeled at his leaders feet as the dark man tapped his foot on the floor and placed his hand on his chin.

"I think we might have to re think our strategy with this one. I here they are claiming they are from another world, like this one but different, there ship seems to suggest they are telling the truth." Sambo said as he stood up placing his hand on Ghana's head and stroking his hair lightly.

"Maybe we should try to capture their ship and use it for ourselves." Ghana said as he watched though down cast eyes the man stalk around the room.

"I knew there was a reason I always liked you. Yes we shall do that, we must lay a trap though, a ship as powerful as that cannot be confronted head on, we shall have to plan this very carefully my friend." Sambo said as he sat back down on his chair and began to chew on his little fingernail.

"How far are we from the triangle?" Mickie asked as she and Randy made it back onto the bridge and as Randy went to look at navigation charts Mickie contented herself with looking out of the window.

"We are right on top of it M'arm." Ted said as Cody slowed the ship to come to a cruise at the pre arranged co-ordinates.

"Full scan Mr Debasie just like before infer red on high sonar on, see if we can't see back though to the other side." Mickie said looking out towards the horizon but seeing nothing but water and the fading light as darkness was approaching fast.

"Nothing M'arm, just ocean." Ted said as she came up behind him and placed her hand on his console.

"Take us forward Lieutenant, nice and slow one quarter speed and lets hope our luck holds out."

The crew held their breath as the ship moved slowly though the waters. This was no white knuckle ride in the true sense of the word but there were plenty of them on that ship. Mickie allowed herself to breath after about a minute of holding it in as she looked down at her radar read outs she saw that nothing had changed, there was no rogue wave if that was what it was the first time there was no feeling of shifting in fact nothing was the most accurate term she could think of.

"Well I knew it wasn't going to be easy." Mickie said standing up and looking out of the window again.

"We can't stay here, it will be where they come looking for us, and I am sure they are looking for us, they know what we are now and I bet they want to take this ship." She said her voice dropping slightly as she openly pondered the possibility of loosing the ship.

"Mr Rhodes take her on a heading 35 by 60 all ahead full lets find some cover shall we and get some sleep for the night." Mickie said as she sat back in her Captain's chair.

She watched as her tired crew did their work, some of them were so young yet they had reacted so well in battle, Mickie knew in the pit of her stomach that that was not the last battle they were going to be in in this world she could feel something brewing in the pit of her stomach and she didn't like it one bit.

End chapter 3

What is the Legacy going to do? No way home trapped in a hostile world, now with limited supplies and a bunch of not so well intended people on their tails, want to find out hit that review button and I will be happy to fill you in.


	4. Hide and seak

Here is my new chapter of this story, this is going to be a bit of an epic so I hope you can stay with me.

They had been going along at top speed for a while, but it proved too dangerous. A few times they had almost ran into a couple of ships and had to taker evasive manoeuvres.

"Hard to port!" Mickie shouted as the sensors beeped in an almost chaotic rhythm alerting them to the fact that there were a lot of ships out there.

"Are we crashing some kind of party?" Randy said as he sat back down in his chair and held on tight to the arm rest as the ship pitched hard to the left then continued on its way forward.

"I have a feeling Mr Orton all this activity has something to do with us." Mickie said unable to sit still as she stood up once more and placed her hand on Cody's shoulder.

She looked out at the darkening ocean and new soon it would be pitch black. A thought came to her then, they could easily navigate their way in the dark, but their enemy ships may have much more of a problem.

"Take it back to quarter speed, I think its time to play a little hide and seek." Mickie said which earns her a few doubtful looks from her crew, except one that is Ted is grinning from ear to ear.

"I will find us a nice Island Captain." He said his fingers flying over the controls as he checks the area for a suitable place.

Sitting back down she smiled at the questioning look from her first officer and realised just how cute he looked doing it.

"An old trick Mr Orton, we use an Island to cover us then power down, we will be just a part of the Island to their sensors, and I suspect their equipment isn't as sophisticated as ours we should be well covered for the night." She said as realisation fell across Randy's face and he sat back straight in his chair as the final shards of light disappeared beyond the horizon.

"I have one Ma'am, bearing 36 to 45 about three miles away, big enough for two Legacy's." Ted said as he finally managed to locate somewhere suitable. The day hade be excessively long, the crew had been up for over sixteen hours now and the tension that had been running though them for over half of it was beginning to take its toll. As ever their Captain seemed as though she had just woken up bright and refreshed, but Ted knew better, as soon as she was alone she was likely to collapse from sheer exhaustion, but she could never let the rest of her crew see that.

Cody was grateful when the Island came in to view, he steered the Legacy around the Island and came to a full stop just on the edge of an inlet. The ship was too large to try and enter the lagoon even though it would provide better cover, there was too much risk that they would run aground.

"Lay the anchor Mr Morrison." Mickie said getting up once more and placing her hand on Ted's shoulder.

"Nice work Mr Debasie." She said offering her old friend a smile as the lift doors opened and out stepped Melina.

"Captain I need to speak with you." She said her face hard and she was obviously concerned.

"Of course, everyone else is dismissed until 0900, have a good sleep."

The bridge crew did not need telling twice as they pilled on to the lift, all that was except Randy who stood in the centre of the room and looked at Mickie's disappearing back as she and the chief engineer went in to her ready room.

Randy was not about to leave his post while his Captain was still at hers, he thought he would monitor the sensors for a little while, even though they were set to sound the alarm if any one came within five miles of them, he felt better that an actual human was checking things.

He had never been one for relying on technology, but this ship was impressive, it was one of the reasons he had asked for this assignment rather than going for his own ship. That and he had heard so much about Mickie James he was curious as to what she was like to work with. He never believed she had gotten the job because of her father's position, or that she had slept her way to the top.

Now having witness her in action he truly believed that she would be able to get them out of this mess, and if not he would be here to help her every step of the way.

Mickie offered Melina a cup of coffee which the woman accepted gratefully as they took a seat next to each other on the small couch in the small room.

"What's up Melina?" Mickie asked feeling that the use of her officers' first name was not a bad idea considering the circumstances.

"One word Ma'am fuel." Melina said as she sipped at her coffee.

"How desperate are we?" Mickie replied feeling that uneasy feeling settle once more in her stomach.

"We have about quarter of a tank left, I would say taking it steady we have a hundred miles."

"What if we have to push the engines?"

"Then we will be running on fumes within fifty, and I wouldn't recommend it, these systems are new we have no idea what they will do when under extreme pressure." Melina sat forward resting her elbows on her knees and took in a deep breath.

"Legacy's tanks hold 600 gallons of fuel but they only half filled her for our mission, it would have been ample for the work we were going to do."

"But here now it was not enough by a long shot." Mickie finished for her as she copied her engineers' position and faced her.

"So we need to find some source of fuel soon or we are dead in the water within a day, preferably enough to fill us to the brim." Mickie said more to herself than to Melina who just nodded her agreement.

"Ok thank you, I will have to have a think about this." Mickie said standing up quickly and Melina got the hint that Mickie wanted to be left alone while she thought about this new and quite serious situation.

Melina crossed the bridge and saw Randy looking at his monitor from his chair and she went over to him and offered him a smile.

"Sir?" She questioned as Randy levelled his eyes with hers and returned her smile.

"Can't sleep." He offered as the woman leaned her weight on to one leg and placed one hand on her hip.

"Me either, I think the Captain wants to be left alone I seem to have given her a bit of a dilemma." Melina said nodding her head towards the Captains ready room and Randy followed her line of sight.

"What's that then?" He asked as he kept his gaze focused on the closed door.

"Our fuel is a bit low, and I don't think there are many gas stations around here, not ones that will be willing to help us out anyway."

"That is a problem, maybe I should go talk to her I mean two brains are better than one surely." Randy said getting up and moving towards the ready room.

"On your head be it sir." Melina said with a smile as she left the command officers to it.

Ted was just drifting off to sleep when a knock came at his door. Wiping his eyes with the heel of his hand he sat up and walked the short distance to the door.

Opening it he was surprised to find Cody, John and Mike all standing there looking back at him.

"Hey Sir sorry to bother you but there is a rumour coming from engineering that we are low on fuel." Ted had not heard about this he had come straight to bed and was just about to enjoy a good dream when his door was knocked on.

"I have not heard anything, maybe you guys should just get some sleep, there is nothing we can do about it now any way." Ted said trying to hold back his annoyance at being disturbed.

"But the Captain may not be able to find any more, then what we just float out here until one of those ships comes along and kills us." Cody said looking more frightened than angry as his friends by his side did too.

"Captain James will think of something, and it is our job as her crew to help her, not think about worst case scenarios. Now all of you off to bed that's an order." Ted barked with a small smile as the crew men dashed off towards their cabins.

Closing the door slowly Ted settled back down on to his bunk and sighed.

"Oh Mickie what have we got ourselves into this time?"

Mickie had sat down heavily at her desk and placed her face in her hands and taken a deep breath. She knew this situation was bound to have come up sooner or later, but she wished it had been later.

Hoping that they would have been able to make some contacts before needing to re fuel, but it seemed that today was just not going to be her day. In hindsight she should not have been open throttle so much, she should have thought about the fuel consumption, but when trying to avoid enemy ships how much fuel you are burning does not come in to the equation. Now she had a real problem, not only would they have to find someone willing to let them buy some fuel, but what were they to buy it with and who could they trust, not to mention what direction were they to go in once they left this cove. Fifty miles in the wrong direction and they were done for, she needed to know where to go before she committed this ship.

Just before the plan fully began to formulate in her mind there was a knock at the door.

"Come!" she said tersely angry at being interrupted mid thought.

"Sorry to bother you Ma'am, I thought you might like a sounding board for the fuel problem." Randy said coming into the room and standing straight at attention as he heard the anger in his Captains voice.

"At ease commander before you strain something." Mickie smiled as she allowed her voice to soften and watched as her first officer relaxed.

"You just caught me mid thought, I would appreciate your input." She offered him the chair opposite her as they sat back down and Mickie looked him in the eyes.

"We are in trouble Randy."

Randy was slightly surprised at the use of his first name but the look in her eyes told him that this wasn't going to be an official conversation.

"I thought as much, we are not exactly popular out here." Randy said leaning back in his chair and folding his hands in his lap.

"I know, plus we now longer have the luxury of spinning across the ocean hoping to find something either. We need to sauce the fuel and someone we can trust before we move Legacy to far." Mickie said staring at the view port and at the starts that were now illuminating the sky.

"What about the D-ex a small team could take it and see if we can't find someone friendly to sell us some fuel." Randy suggested as Mickie's eyes lit up.

"Mr Orton you're a genius." She said standing up and smiling at him, a genuine smile that lit up her whole face and he couldn't believe how beautiful she looked in that moment.

"Thank you I think I will get some shut eye myself, don't you stay up too late commander." Mickie said leaving her ready room followed closely by Randy.

"I think I might go to bed to Ma'am, my brain is awake but my eye lids are having other ideas." Climbing onto the lift together Mickie pushed the button for the third deck the location of the command quarters and they stood in companionable silence while they rode down.

When the lift doors opened Mickie stepped out first and walked to her cabin, Randy stopped at her side as she keyed in her code to enter.

"Good night Captain." He offered her as she stepped into the darkened room.

"Night commander." Mickie said wondering why she was feeling like she had just been on a date and wondering when the kiss was going to come. Shaking her head suddenly Mickie told herself off for the random thought and closed her door.

"He is your first officer Mickie get a hold of yourself." She whispered in the mirror as she turned on her bathroom light and stared back at her tired expression.

The high commander walked down though the bowels of the ship and finally his eyes rested on the blonde woman. He had come to actually respect the woman, not that he would ever let her know that. She had been very resistant to his interrogation techniques and she had shown a real loyalty to that brother of hers.

"My dear Beth how are you feeling today?" He questioned as the blonde didn't even raise her head.

"Not to chatty I see, well I need to tell you something, it might cheer you up so why don't you just look at me for a second." His voice was sickly sweet, soft but there was an undercurrent of danger in it too and Beth knew this tone, of she didn't do as he asked he would hurt her again, and she was hurting enough already. Her whole body ached from the beatings and the other things, she didn't even want to think about them right now.

Turning her eyes up to his she suppressed a shiver and kept her face neutral.

"There now that wasn't so bad now was it." He said and Beth shook her head making sure she kept her eyes on his.

"That ship I asked you about, it took out one of our own with one missile, it's a powerful ship alright, I also have discovered from our latest capture that they met with your brother just before hand, gave them supplies, food medicine, they were in a talkative mood, not so much fun as you, but I got what I wanted." Beth tried to keep the excitement off her face at this news, not only that the ship was helping them, but that her brother was still alright was enough to make all the pain worth it.

"Now they have disappeared though, can't find them for love or money, you are a very intelligent woman, you built the radar for your brothers ship, you basically invented this engine, I need you to tell me how to track their ship." This time his voice grew dark and Beth couldn't help but start to shake, she knew something was coming, he would not have offered all this information for nothing.

"Over my dead body." She replied between gritted teeth as the High commander opened her cell and Beth backed up into the corner.

"As you wish."

The morning came all too quickly for most of the crew, after they had fallen asleep with sheer exhaustion the alarm went off alerting them to a ship near by, fortunately it was on the fringe of their sensors and it did not even change course to inspect the Island. Unfortunately it was just before eight when the alarm went off and so it was pointless them going back to sleep now. Mickie decided to call a meeting of the senior crew and discuss their plan to locate a source of fuel.

Not an hour later after most of them had taken a shower and grabbed something to eat they all sat around the table in the meeting room and looked the better part of awake. Melina sat next to Ted who was opposite Cody who was next to Randy. Mickie took her place at the head of the table and outlined their position.

"In short, we need to leave Legacy where she if for now, we need to conserve energy and the crew need to rest. I will be taking out the D-Ex with Mr Rhodes and Mr Debasie to see if I can't either locate some fuel or some allies who could supply us with some. If we are not back within forty eight hours I want you to move the ship, whether we have been spotted or not, it will become too dangerous to remain in once place after that." Mickie said using her, you better not question me voice, but it seemed not to work.

"Ma'am shouldn't I go on this mission, you should stay here where it is relatively safe, we can't afford to loose you now." Randy said not happy that she would put herself in danger like this.

"No Commander, I need to do this, we are going to be meeting possibly hostile people and trying to make some kind of diplomatic connection, this happens to be my specialty, and I am afraid to say not yours." Mickie said trying not to show her irritation at his suggestion, even though it was coming from a good place, she still did not like having to explain herself.

"I need you here Randy, I need you to keep Legacy safe, I know I can trust you to do that." She said to him in a quieter voice so that the others wouldn't here. Randy gave her a terse nod, he didn't have to like this but he did have to accept it.

"Miss Perez I need you to try and find away of keeping our fuel consumption down to a minimum without compromising the engines." Mickie said turning to her Chief engineer and the woman was shaking her head.

"Ma'am I will try but this ship is already set up for maximum efficiency, what I squeeze out of her probably wouldn't keep a blender running for very long." She said trying to keep her voice straight so the Captain wouldn't miss understand.

"Everything helps any more questions?" Mickie paused and tensed at the same time, hoping she would not have to deal with any more uncertain crew members, she just wanted to get underway now.

"Good dismissed. Debasie, Rhodes we meet in one hour, make sure you have all you need." Mickie said as they all left the meeting room and she was standing alone once more.

She knew this was a risky plan but they had little choice now, her only hope was that she could contact someone from the resistance, they had given her their contact frequency, but it only worked short range she would have to be within five miles of one of their ships and even then she would not be guaranteed a response. Clasping her hands behind her back she took in a deep breath as she watched the waves lap against the side of the Island, this place was truly beautiful if only she had the luxury of being able to enjoy it.

There is chapter 4 hope you enjoyed it, getting into a bit more now, I know this is all a little strange .I have never done an AU before so this is new for me too, but I would love to know if you think I am doing ok and if you want to find out how the mission goes to find some fuel just hit that review button and I will update asap.

Just a quick warning some of these chapters will be pretty M rated but I will make sure I put on a warning when we get to that point.

PS MERRY CHRISMAS everyone and thank you for reading.


	5. Ambush

Happy new year everyone hope you enjoy this new chapter.

The Deep sea-exploration sub was a fully submergible boat, which was half submarine half speed boat. Mickie opened the hatch and she climbed in behind Ted and Cody. Making sure the hatch was securely fastened behind them she turned to Ted and gave him a sad smile.

"You know Captain, we will sort this whole mess out." Ted said reading the look on her face to perfection and earning himself a real smile.

"You know Ted you always were the optimist even when we were young." She said placing her arm on his shoulder briefly and giving his shoulder a squeeze.

Walking on to the small bridge Mickie noticed just how small and enclosed this space seemed compared to the roomy bridge of the Legacy. Ted was sat next to her now and he was turning on his monitor.

Cody was just in front of them at the helm, but Mickie could have reached out a foot and touched the back of his chair.

"James to the Bridge, Commander we are ready open the bow doors." Mickie said finally reaching for the radio and issuing the command to let them out of the Legacy.

"Aye Aye Captain, keep this channel open we will keep and eye on you for as long as we can." Randy replied as the D-ex started to shudder as the giant bow doors began their decent.

"Of course commander, we will be as quick as possible, and hopefully come back successful." Mickie said feeling his angst even from her chair on the smaller ship.

"And a short one" Randy added as Cody fired up the engines on the D-ex as the platform the ship was on raised up so that they could slide down into the water.

"Goodbye commander, take good care of her for me."

"Always."

Mickie couldn't help but smile at Randy's reply as the D-Ex's nose hit the water and sent a large wave of water against the front window and for a second Mickie couldn't see anything.

"All ahead full Mr Rhodes, Mr Debasie scan for land masses and other ships." Mickie said sitting more upright in her chair now and scanning the area with her eyes.

"Take us down Mr Rhodes forty feet will do for now."

Cody turned slightly in his chair his was grinning widely. He had wanted to take the D-Ex out and under for ages now, he was not happy about the circumstances that he was having to do it in, but it was a thrill none the less.

The D-Ex was a small ship, fifty feet long and shaped like a torpedo. It was fast and could ride under or above the water. It was lightly armoured though and had little defences. It was made to collect debris from wrecked ships, or to retrieve unexploded sea mines. It was not a battle ship and if they were caught by the UAN they would not be able to fight their way out so easily.

Mickie lent forward and started to play the SOS message she had programmed into the ships communication systems. She was board casting it on the channel John had given her, all they had to do now was wait for a reply.

"We are still nearest America, but from what little information we have been given, I doubt they will have any great supply of fuel." Ted said as he looked at his radar images and skirted his fingers of the console to change the picture.

"What about outlying Islands?" Mickie said flicking her eyes from her screen to the wonderful view outside.

The ocean was almost a Mediterranean blue in colour, not like the grey murky depths of the Atlantic she was used to. Their pollution levels were obviously not as high and the fish were incredible colours.

"I think we are best to try contacting someone, for all we know they may not be a port for hundreds of miles." Ted said trying not to look to concerned but failing miserably.

"And I thought you were the optimistic one." Mickie smiled at her friend and gave him a quick wink.

"Ma'am, there is something coming though the radio." Cody said finally whilst his was listening to his commanding officers banter he could here a faint crackling sound.

"What is that?" Mickie said as the crackling grew louder, but no voices were heard.

"Switch off the automated message." Mickie ordered standing up now and pacing the small bridge.

"If you can here me I am Captain Mickie James of the US navel vessel Legacy, please we are in need of assistance and I am willing to trade." Mickie said keeping the air of desperation out of her voice and trying to remain still.

"Legacy this is Mark Calloway of the rebellion, I have heard about the assistance you gave my friend John and I was coming in search of you. However we cannot locate you on our scanners."

Mickie almost collapsed with relief against the back of Cody's chair as she heard the message. Smiling in to the ceiling of the ship Mickie took in a deep breath.

"We are forty feet below the surface, if you tell us your co-ordinates we will come to you."

"I am 50 degrees west of the tropic of Cancer heading 235 North East." Mark replied as Cody typed in the co-ordinates and Mickie didn't hesitate at giving him the signal to go.

"We will be with you in under twenty minutes." Mickie said taking her seat once more and crossing her legs.

"We look forward to meeting you Captain." Mark said as the communication was cut off.

"Keep us under Mr Rhodes, I don't want to surface until we have completed a complete scan of the area." Mickie said knowing that even though this was just what they had been hoping for things were always just too good to be true.

Randy sat in the Captains chair and fidgeted for over twenty minutes before he stood up and went around every work station and checked up on what was happening.

"Sir perhaps you should go and have some tea or something." A timid Ensign Mizanin said as Randy stood behind him and tutted his way though a full scan of the surrounding area.

"Thank you Ensign when I want your opinion I will ask for it." He said though clenched teeth. He had not been able to shake the feeling that something wasn't right from the moment the D-ex went out of communications range.

He knew it was probably just because he was worried and he had no control over what was happening to his Captain, this was not the first time he had felt like this, but it was the worst he had felt.

Randy was unsure as to whether it was because of the unique situation they were in, or because of this particular Captain. He couldn't help but feel that she was even more vulnerable than other Captains, not just because she was a woman, and not because she wasn't a great Captain, but because she was a beautiful woman who would refuse to back down and she was willing to risk her own life in the process. Randy knew all this about her in just the few days he had know her. He could see it deep in her eyes, the commitment and courage she had all wrapped up in a tiny package.

Randy went back to sit in her chair and checked his watch one more time.

"Any sing of other ships." Mickie asked as the approached the co-ordinates that Mark had given them.

"Nothing on the scanners, or long range sensors." Ted replied looking at his readouts and seeing nothing in the area. They all knew this meeting could be dangerous, but equally necessary.

"What about sonar, they did not seem surprised that we were underwater, they could have their own type of submarine?" Mickie asked feeling the butterflies start in her stomach once more.

"Nothing, its all clear Captain." Ted reported and Mickie made herself relax slightly.

"Lieutenant take us up." She ordered as the D-Ex rose slowly in the water.

"Mr Calloway we are here, we will be emerging 10 meters off your Starboard side." Mickie said finally getting on the radio and contacting the rebel ship.

"We are waiting for you Captain, but I urge you, these waters are dangerous and patrolled often, I suggest we start out business now."

Mickie glanced at Ted but he was looking at his consol and she could only see the back of Cody's head.

"Very well, we are looking to get our hands on some fuel, lots of it."

"Fuel a, well it's a common enough thing, we have our own depo for it off a little Island called Hawaii." Mark replied as Mickie allowed herself a small smile.

"That's excellent, what would you require in return, we have very little money?"

"I am sure we can negotiate something, plus you have already been generous enough with some of your supplies."

" I am glad no good deed goes unnoticed around here." Mickie said this time Ted did give her a wink as the D-ex broke the surface and came up along side a large ship that looked a lot like the Carpathian in design.

"I see you Captain, but this is not the ship I was expecting." Mark said some trepanation in his voice.

"No the Legacy is low on fuel and it was deemed safer to bring the D-Ex or a search mission." Mickie replied as Cody brought the ship to a full stop up along side the rebels ship.

"I understand, please you are welcome to come aboard our ship to discuss terms of re fuelling your ship."

Mickie hesitated for a second, she did not know these people and she could not leave the D-ex without anyone aboard, but she knew it was important to show trust.

"Ok me and one of my crew men will join you in a few moments." Mickie said and ended the transmission.

"Mr Debasie, stay here and look after the D-ex any sign of trouble you get her back to Legacy and warn her." Ted's mouth open to start a protest but he was cut off by Mickie.

"That's an order Lieutenant commander." And that was the end of that. Cody got out of the helm chair and went to stand by his Captain. He was so excited to be accompanying her to the rebel ship and he walked with his head held high all the way up to the bridge of the other ship.

The Intrepid was a lovely ship, it was just like its world war two counter part with a little bit of an upgrade and minus the air craft hanger. Mickie was in ore looking at the designs and technology it offered. Her reverence was cut short as Mark approached them with his hand extended.

"Captain glad you could join us. I am Mark Calloway and this is my wife Michelle." He said as Mickie shook his hand first then the tall blonde standing next to him.

"Pleased to be here sir, this is my Lieutenant Mr Cody Rhodes." Cody also shook the mans hand but stood at complete attention whilst doing it. Mickie was amazed that he could hold that posture whilst shaking someone so tall's hand.

"I was just admiring your ship, where did or should I say whom did you get her from?" Mickie said with a smile as they were led though the ship and came to what looked like a meeting room.

"One of the UAN ships that we ambushed last year, I was lucky enough to get my hands on the Intrepid and I have never looked back." Mark replied as they all took a seat.

"Now on to business, we are prepared to give you all the fuel you need, we have recently discovered oil deposits in the Americas and for the moment we have more than we need. What we want from you is simple, we need you to get back a prisoner for us." Mark was looking right at Mickie now and his eyes held her gaze almost as if daring her to say no.

"Who is it and where are they?" Mickie said thinking she would get some more information before making up her mind.

"She is John sister and she is very important, she was about to develop a new weapon that could turn the tide of this war when she was taken. We know she is being held on the high commanders ship and he has been torturing her for information."

Mickie was stunned by what she had heard, not only was it possible that this woman could be the inventor of some kind of weapon of mass destruction, but they were supposed to get her from the very ship they had been trying to avoid.

"Why us, I am sure you have better knowledge of these waters and are able to get people on the inside, they will see us coming a mile off." Mickie said knowing that this maybe a deal too far for her.

"Exactly that's why we need you, your ship can take the high commanders ship down easily allowing one of us to get on board and rescue Beth." Mark finished looking like he had won this round but Mickie was having her doubts.

"I am sure that John already told you about us not wanting to get involved in your war, the consequences for us could be catastrophic."

"But Captain you already are." Michelle said from her chair it was the first thing she had said all meeting and Mickie was surprised at the venom in her voice.

"I realise that just by being here we are…" But Mickie was cut off by a warning claxon.

"Mark enemy ship five minutes out." A man said running up to the door and calling inside.

"Shit everyone battle stations, Captain you will have to get back to your ship, maybe between us we can get rid of these people." Mark said as they all stood up and ran for the exit.

"Cody don't get on that gang plank until Ted has the hatch open!" Mickie called out as they ran though the corridors and down stairs.

This ship had no lifts and it was ten decks down to the loading ramp which they had boarded the Intrepid.

"I will contact him to open the doors for us Captain." Cody said reaching in his pocket for the short wave radio and getting Ted's panicked voice on the other end.

"Where are you guys. I am reading two ships on to port one starboard and closing fast. ETA about one minute." Ted said as Cody asked Ted for an update as they swung around the corner for deck eight. Mickie realised that they were no way going to make it in that time. Especially as they were probably already in weapons range and that considering the surprise attack, the UAN already knew they were here.

Huffing for breath Mickie pulled Cody to a stop on seven and opened the door. Taking the radio Mickie pushed the button and spoke into it.

"Ted go now, take the D-ex get to Legacy and tell they to go to Hawaii, tell them Mark sent us, we need to get the Legacy up and running if we have any hope of surviving this." Mickie said as she heard just static for a second.

"Mickie don't do this a ship needs a Captain." Ted's voice was calm but firm.

"I know and I am going to make sure it keeps this one. I will help Mark out here and then you can come back for us with all guns blazing if you have to." She said as she felt the first gun blast's strike the windows behind her.

"Go now Ted this is one fight we can't win." With that the radio was knocked out of Mickie's hand and it fell to the floor where it broke apart.

Cody grabbed it up and stuffed it in his pocket, hoping that he would get a chance to fix it as he followed his Captain to the bridge.

"What's happening Mr Calloway." Mickie barked going into full Captain mode once on the busy rocking bridge.

"They have surrounded us and are demanding our full surrender." He said as another gun blast hit the ship and a horrible piston sound came from one of the bulkheads.

"One more like that Mark and we are going down." Michelle said from her position behind a console and Mark ran over to fix the exploded pipe.

"Send them another round of fire, aim for their front windows." He said as Mickie came over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Mark this battle is over don't loose your ship and crew too." She said as Cody helped one of the injured rebels into a chair as a booming voice came over the radio.

"This is your high commander I demand your complete surrender or we will destroy you and your ship."

Mickie suppressed a shudder at that voice and kept her hand on Marks shoulder.

"Maybe this is the rescue you have been waiting for, trust me, we will get out of this, but not today."

With that Mark stood up and went to the radio. He surrendered the ship and the firing stopped the waters went calm and an eerie silence filled the corridors.

"Captain I do hope you are right."

Mickie could only offer a small smile as there was a rolling sensation as the high commanders ship docked with theirs.

"From now on its Mickie ok, he can't know who we are or we are all doomed." She whispered too all those around her who could here and she was met with several nods.

"That goes for you to Mr Rhodes." She said giving her Lieutenant a quick smile as he cast his eyes downwards as the bridge doors opened and in swooped several large dark soldiers.

Mickie was grabbed by the arms as she was trying to push her Captain's jacket under a table, but the guards were to busy thinking they were stopping her from escaping to notice. Mickie sighed relief as they were marched away from the bridge and lined up on the deck outside.

"You are all now prisoners of the high commander of the UAN, you will be questioned and charged with treason, the penalty for this crime is death."

Mickie couldn't help but let out a slight gasp as she saw some of the men with riffles and for a second she thought they were going to be executed there and then.

"Take them to the other ship and lock them up. Secure this vessel." The dark man barked out as they were roughly pulled to their feet and pushed though the corridors of the intrepid.

"Cody, don't worry Randy will have us out of here in no time."

Mickie whispered to her young helms man as she could see the fear evident on his face as a gun was pushed into his back and he almost toppled down the stairs.

"Of course Captain." He whispered back but Mickie shook her head.

"No Cody it's Mickie remember, and yes if any one can get us out of this its Randy Orton, believe it Cody it's important." Mickie said quietly so only he could here her as they were finally boarding the other bigger ship and Mickie was pushed into the darkness below decks.

Hope you enjoyed that, as ever please let me know what you think, this is my first attempt at an AU and I know they are not everyone's cup of tea. If you bear with me I will be delivering some romance and plenty of suspense.

Once more happy new year folks I am off to get merry.


	6. Fortune favous the bold

I would just like to thank all the people who have reviewed this and all my stories, your support continues to fuel my imagination.

Enjoy chapter 6.

Randy was slouched in the Captain's chair. It had been over four hours since they had left the Legacy and the nervous energy he had been emitting had finally run out and he was almost bone weary.

"Debasie to Legacy come in Legacy."

Randy sprang out of the chair at the sound of Ted's voice.

"Legacy here Ted what's happened?" Randy asked knowing that something was wrong, not just because Ted's voice sounded strange, but the fact that he had made contact and not Mickie meant she was probably not on the D-Ex.

"The Captain, we were ambushed, she ordered me out don't know what happened after that, we have to try and save her." Ted replied as he spoke so fast Randy only caught about half of the message.

"Slow down Mr Debasie, take a deep breath and let me know what happened." Ted did as Randy had suggested. There was a pause in the communication and Randy held back on barking at the man to hurry up.

"We had met with the rebels, but the UAN must have known something was going on because they ambushed us with two of their ships. They had no chance to get back to me, so the Captain ordered me back here so we could bring the Legacy and rescue her and Cody, and perhaps the rebels too." Ted said finally as John Morrison indicated to randy that they were just docking Ted's ship.

"He is on board Sir." John said as he gave his commanding officer a quick smile.

"Mr Jericho raise the anchor and prepare to leave harbour." Randy said turning to their number two helms man who was looking a little green around the gills but he did as was asked.

"Mr Mizanin make sure you keep your eyes peeled for any enemy ships, as soon as we are out of the shallow waters I want full speed Mr Jericho." Randy said as the lift doors opened and Ted stepped out looking slightly wide eyed.

"I wouldn't recommend that, we only have fifty miles of fuel left at full speed it is a good twenty to the meeting sight and we have no idea how far from there they would have travelled, we could run out of petrol in the middle of the ocean." Ted said as John moved out of the way to let Ted get to his usual station.

"I know but we can't afford to wait, if we get to them before they move at least we might have a chance of saving them." Randy said standing behind Chris Jericho and placing his hands on the back of his chair.

"Now Mr Jericho punch it."

"Aye Sir." As the ship lurched forward Randy tightened his grip on the helms mans chair, he knew he was taking a big risk here, but there was little choice, if they had to go and find Mickie and Cody they would probably be dead already, no it was better to get to them as quickly as possible before there could be any permanent damage done.

"Sir we have to think, we made a kind of deal for fuel, there is a depo in Hawaii it is only 43 miles from here we can make it and then go anywhere we want." Ted said he really wanted to get to his friends but he had a lot more time to think about this than his commanding officer and he had developed a kind of plan.

"Well that's great lets hope we don't get blown up before we get there." Randy said his words came out clipped as he sat back in the Captain's chair.

"Sir we can still do both, the meeting place is on the way, if they are still there great we go in all guns blazing and rescue them, however if they are gone we will have only 30 or so miles of fuel left and no way of getting any more, we will be lucky to find them let alone mount a rescue."

"Your point Mr Debasie." Randy said finally acknowledging the fact that the young man was right.

"If they are gone we re-fuel and then find them all guns blazing." This time Ted smiled down at the Commander and he received one in return.

"Commander to the engine room." Randy said opening a radio channel to Melina.

"Perez here Sir, what can I do for you." The woman shouted down the channel it was obvious she was playing with something and was not near the receiver.

"How far would we get if we used the turbo?" Randy asked cautiously, hoping it would be far enough.

"Glad you asked sir I have managed to fit the turbo using several of our extra missiles firing mechanisms, it does not even require as much fuel as the normal engines at least for a little while, I'd say you will get an extra ten to fifteen miles out of her." Melina said sounding very pleased with herself and her good mood reflected to Randy.

"Great work Lieutenant, bridge out. Mr Jericho lets do it turbo drive now, lets go save our crew mates." Randy said as the ships engines gave a large roar and the stern of the ship rose in the water as the turbo drive lowered the bow for maximum thrust and the Legacy roared towards it's Captain.

Mickie was stiff, they had been placed in this cell squashed together like sardines in a tin and rocked and rolled about on this damm bumpy ship.

Cody had been keeping an eye on the guards, they had not so much as looked at any of them since they had been thrown in the cell and this was worrying Mickie.

"How far away from the meeting sight do you think we have gotten Captain?" Cody said he was whispering but Mickie was still concerned that no one should know who they really were.

"Cody it's Mickie, and I am not sure, by the way the ship has been lurching I would say they are giving it plenty of speed, so we could be as far as fifty miles." She replied in a hushed tone that made her voice sound just a little bit scared.

"Do you think they are going to torture us for information?" Cody asked trying to look brave but the waver in his voice told her that he was much more frightened than he was letting on. He was a trained solider and he was a brave man, but this was his first mission, under normal circumstances Cody Rhodes probably would have been more fearless, more protective of his Captain, but out here with little to no back up he had been fighting his own will to scream so hard he had not really thought about his Captain's safety. Looking at her now, the way her jaw was set and her eyes flitting from one person to another he knew she was concocting a plan. He realised then he had no need to worry about his Captain she was the one in control here, just no one else new it.

Mickie eyed one of the guards, she had caught him looking at her as they were placed in the cell and he had been stealing glances at her for the past several hours. Mickie made sure she caught his eye once or twice and just gave him a small smile. She would only need a second or two to get his gun and or his keys.

Placing her hand on Cody's shoulder she decided to answer his question with honesty.

"I think if they get the chance they will torture us yes, but I don't want to give them that chance." She said giving the young Lieutenant a warm smile showing the white rows of her teeth and a slight cock of the eyebrow.

"What do you have in mind Cap umm Mickie." Cody said correcting him self but then picking up on her playful manor.

"We are going to steal some weapons, then we are going to get taken to be questioned." Mickie said standing up slowly and walking over to the guard that had been looking at her, making sure she kept a sway in her step and keeping eye contact with him.

Cody watched as his Captain lent forward and pressed her hand though the bars on to the guards chest. She ran her other hand up his leg but stopped short of his pocket and his keys. It was so unlike her, Cody couldn't believe what he was seeing from a navel Captain, but he thought to himself if you've got it flaunt it and Captain James did have it. He watched as the other guard came over and stated talking with the pair and he looked like he did not like what was going on. Cody could see that Mickie had yet to get the keys and so he decided to get in there and create a diversion.

"Hey man leave her alone." He said walking up to the guards and looking angry as hell.

"Go and sit down slave." The taller of the two men said as he took Mickie's upper arm once more and caressed his fingers down it.

"No way you shouldn't be touching her." Cody said taking a step closer when he was grabbed by the other guard and held back.

"He said back off muscle boy." Cody had to stand on tip toes as the guard dragged him up by the belt and pulled him closer to the bars.

"I think he needs to learn his place." The guard that had hold of Mickie said as she stopped his train of thought to a caress of his upper thigh.

"He isn't worth it, believe me, he is kept below decks he knows nothing of our operations." Mickie drawled as her voiced turned to honey and so0 did the guard she was caressing.

"Let him go, she is right they will sort him out later any way." With that the guard shoved Cody away, as he did Cody pulled the keys from the mans belt and made sure he landed on them to cover up that fact. The guards laughed at him as he landed on his stomach and let out a rush of air. Cody also hid the smile that came to his face as Mark came and helped him off the floor.

"You ok man?" Mark asked him as Cody showed him the keys.

"Much better than that." Mark grinned along with him as they went back over to the wall in the cell and turned their eyes back over to Mickie.

"What is she up to?" Mark hissed at Cody who was tucking the keys in to the waist band of his trousers.

"She is making a play for his weapon, she might need a distraction in a minute, could you help with that?" Cody said she he saw the guard was getting a little handsy with his Captain.

"No problem what did you have in mind?" Mark said as he drew himself closer to the younger man.

"Maybe a fight, try to draw them closer, but I need to be taken away with the Captain she will need me." Cody said as Mickie's hand slid along the guards' thigh and wrapped around his gun.

"You wanna say that again you creep." Cody shouted at Mark standing up and for a second Mark looked puzzled and then quickly caught on.

"Yeah can do if you like you snivelling little man."

Cody was slightly shocked at how good Mark was at this but he saw that their distraction was working. The guard had let go of Mickie and she was pressing herself against the damp cold wall of their cell and tucking the gun under the tail of her shirt.

Cody had to duck quickly as Mark threw a punch and he turned and pushed him as hard as possible which barely made the big man stumble.

"Break it up or we will have to come in there." One of the guards shouted, Cody was unsure as to which one is was though as Mark rounded on him again.

"Boys enough." Mickie called and both men stopped in their tracks. The guards almost seemed stunned by the effect this small woman had on such a bunch of large men.

Before they had time to ponder the situation any further the high commander breezed down the corridor and came to a halt right in front of the cell.

"I want her first." He said pointing to Mickie and she had to hold back the need to hide as she stood up straight and tilted her chin at an upwards angle.

"Lucky me." Mickie said and with that she was pulled out of the cell and almost dragged down the hall.

Randy had been clutching the arms of his chair so hard he had given himself cramp in both of his hands. Shaking out the sore muscles he stood up as the intrepid came in sight. She was floating there like a ghost ship, Randy was confused, surely they would have wanted to take the ship with them.

"Why have they left her here?" Randy didn't realise he had said that out loud until Ted replied.

"Probably to save time travelling, she would be a heavy tug to pull and she looks pretty banged up to get there on her own." Ted said as he scanned the area for any sign of the other ships.

"Hey could we take her fuel?" Randy said turning to John who was at the tactical station.

"Don't see why not sir we would need to get some one over there though." The ensign replied and Randy quirked his lip.

"Well volunteered Ensign Morrison, Orton to engine room Miss Perez I have a mission for you." Randy explained to them both what he wanted, as soon as Melina had told him she could do it no problem and all they had to do was get close enough to the prone ship to make the transfer.

Randy was buzzing with excitement at their new found way of getting some fuel on board and quickly when the chief engineer came over the radio to alert him to their arrival.

"Commander we have connected the fuelling hose to the Intrepid tanks, looks like our luck is in Commander they are almost full, she must have just come from Hawaii when they picked up the D-ex's distress signal." Melina theorised as they began transferring the fuel. Luckily along with the other similarities in this world the fuel also was compatible with the Legacy and the entire crew breathed a sigh of relief as the legacy's tanks began to fill.

"Mr Debasie do you have any idea what direction they could have headed in?" Randy said turning to his temporary second in command who was poring over data charts.

"The best I can do commander is give you a damm good guess." Ted said finally as there were no obvious or covert signs as to the location of the UAN ships.

"Its better than nothing, why don't you give it to me." Randy said sitting back down in the Captain's chair and rubbing at his aching neck.

"Ok I think they have cut and run Sir, they know or at least think we will be coming after them, their ships are slower and so they needed a head start, hence them leaving the Intrepid. They won't head for land it will be to obvious, they will try to keep in open water and stay just far enough ahead of us until they have got what they need, however they don't know our capabilities yet so they have probably not covered their trail enough." Ted smiled at his commander and pointed to his radar readings.

Somehow out there in the middle of the Atlantic ocean slightly due west to there location about three miles out was Cody Rhodes jacket just bobbing along on the ocean surface.

"Damm but that is one smart cookie." Randy said as he ordered the heading to be entered into the helm.

"Might not be a location but at least we have a general heading and that's a good start." Randy said as the call came over the radio that the Legacy was full and they were pulling back the hose and coming back aboard.

"Mr Jericho set new heading and all ahead full." Randy ordered as he sat in his chair finally thinking he was going in the right direction and just hoping that he wasn't too late.

Mickie was forced to kneel in front of the high commander, his face was broad and he was heavily built, but not in a muscular way, but a slightly over fed sat on his arse for too long way. His eyes were bight and held a glee that disturbed Mickie somewhat. He reached out a meaty hand and pulled the bull dog clip from Mickie's long dark hair and it fell over her shoulder sin long loose waves.

"Lovely, now what is your name my dear?" He asked his voice was softer than it had been on the radio and Mickie could here the west African accent more clearly now. Micki9e said nothing, she was not going to answer any questions, if the high commander recognised her voice she would be in trouble.

"Can you speak?" This time he shouted and both guards grabbed her by the arms and pulled back making her gasp with pain.

"Now young lady speak your name." this time his voice was low and dark and left no room for misinterpretation. Mickie had to answer or they were going to hurt her, and then they might find the gun.

"My name is Dana Jones." She said keeping her vice with the slight shake in it, instead of making sure it stayed level. The name just popped in her head and she didn't have time to think about how ridiculous it sounded.

"Beautiful name, just like its owner, now are you going to be a good girl and tell me which ones are the Legacy crew members?" Sambo asked and Mickie tilted her head to the side, she realised that they didn't have a clue what any of them looked like although they did know that someone from the Legacy had been aboard the Intrepid.

"I don't know sir I never saw them I am just a cook." Mickie said keeping her eyes down as the guards loosened their grip on her slightly as the high commander came back closer to her and lifted her chip with his fingers.

"I don't believe you." He said as the grip on her chin became tighter as he pressed her cheeks inwards and Mickie couldn't help her eyes watering with the pressure, thankfully Sambo thought it was tears and he smiled.

"Now are you going o tell me the truth or this will be only a fraction of the pain you will endure." He said tightening his grip slightly then letting go abruptly.

"I think the dark hair young one is one of them, I don't recognise him from the rest of the crew." Mickie said keeping her voice small as she set them up to release Cody she just hoped he still had those keys on him.

"Go fetch that one I want him now." Sambo said pulling away from Mickie as he sent the guards away leaving himself alone with Mickie who was holding her hands behind her back and stayed on her knees.

"You are a good girl, and you have been very co-operative today I think I shall reward you with a position here on the ship." He said as he bent down and placed his hand on her shoulder squeezing ever so slightly and causing Mickie to tense up.

"Thank you sir what did you have in mind?" Mickie said allowing her voice to get stronger as her fingers closed around the butt of the gun.

"Umm that all depends on you my dear, how about you tell me where the leader of the rebellion is hiding, and I might even get you your own quarters." Sambo drawled at her and Mickie grinned at him as she whipped the gun from behind her and pressed it against the mans temple.

"I wouldn't settle for anything less than Captain High Commander Sambo, now how about you get on your knees." Mickie said pulling herself upright and watching as the man's face palled and his hands came up to his shoulders palms out in a defensive position.

"Yes Ma'am any thing just don't shoot me." He said and Mickie was surprised at how wimpy this man really was. Walking around behind him she grabbed him by the neck and kept the gun at his head making sure no one could creep up behind them she waited as the guards dragged Cody down the hallway.

"Gentlemen I suggest you drop my helms man." Mickie said as the guards walked though the door pulling Cody in-between them. Both men looked shocked and glanced from Mickie to their commander who was nodding his head.

"Do as she asked I don't think she is kidding." Sambo said as his knees began to ache from kneeling on the hard floor.

Letting go of Cody the Lieutenant grabbed one of the guards guns and moved into the centre of the room and turned the weapon on them.

"Now drop your weapon." He ordered the other guard and he did as he was asked without hesitation.

"We want you to stop this ship." Mickie said taking the collar of the high commander and giving it a tug for effect.

"I can not do that from here, you will have to take me to the bridge." He said back allowing a small smile to form on his lips and Mickie could sense something was wrong, this had all be just a little bit to easy and she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Cody go a release the other prisoners, take one of the guards as hostage and I will take the high commander to the bridge." Mickie said there was no room for argument in her voice so Cody grabbed the nearest guard and dragged him down the hall gun to his back.

"Now Commander lead the way." Mickie said allowing the taller man to stand and proceed down a corridor. Locking the guard in the interrogation room behind her Mickie halted the high commander with a hand to his shoulder and then turned to him.

"I think I underestimated you Captain, I won't be doing that again in future." Sambo said as Mickie pushed him along the narrow corridor and on to the stairs.

"No your right about that you wont be doing that again." Mickie said as a loud sound rang out though the ships sound system and caused Mickie to fall to the floor and grasp her ears.

The commander smiled down at her and shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid it is you dear Captain that has under estimated me." Sambo said as he lifted Mickie over his shoulder and took her back along the corridor towards another chamber. As the sound died down he pulled out his ear plugs which had been itching him and laid the half unconscious woman on the floor of the small room.

"We will stay here until my men have rounded up all your little rebels, now what should we do in the mean time." Sambo smiled down as Mickie groaned slightly and shifted on to her side on the cold hard floor.

There is chapter 6 quite a long one, I hope you are enjoying this story as ever any suggestions are welcomed. Thank you for reading and if you would like to find out what happens to our poor stranded superstars hit the review button and I will let you know.


	7. Plan B

Quick update for you, enjoy.

Mickie did not know how log she had been out for, but her head felt like it was full of cotton wool. The pain started behind her eyes and moved to encompass her whole head, she had not felt like this since she was at university and she remembered now why she had pretty much stopped drinking.

Sitting up she realised she was in a room no bigger than 10x10 and it was completely bare. Four grey walls no windows hard wooden floor and a single door with a small window just above Mickie's head height. It was cold in there to; Mickie wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to keep what little heat she still had in.

Walking up to the window Mickie stood on her tiptoes and peered out of the small square portal. She could not see much just the wall opposite her and it was fairly dark wherever she had been put.

Giving up she went and sat with her back to the far wall looking directly at the door, she was not feeling one bit sleepy, in fact her body was on high alert, she realised that she a played right into Sambo's hands, he knew they were on board, all he had to do was find out which ones they were, and she had offered them up on a plate.

"Cody!" Mickie said out loud standing up quickly and pounding on the door. She was frightened for him, where was he? How was he? He was her responsibility and being locked in here she had no way of helping him.

After pounding on the door and shouting herself horse Mickie finally gave up and went and sat back down against the wall. She was actively shivering now and she didn't know how long she had been in here, but she was incredibly thirsty. Knowing that it takes at least four hours without liquid to become thirsty and having been aboard the Intrepid for only twenty minutes her last drink must be between five and six hours ago.

Still it was pointless knowing the time if she was trapped in this room, Mickie pulled her knees up to her chin and rested her forehead on them. Taking in a deep breath she closed her eyes and waited for someone to come for her.

Cody was back in the cell with the other rebels, he had been knocked out by the same loud siren as everyone else, but the guards had not bothered to search him they had just thrown him back into his cell.

Climbing on to unsteady feet Cody stumbled across several fallen bodies who muttered under his intrusion but did not stand up. He made his way over to Mark who was just inside the cell door. It was obvious that with his size and bulk the guards had dropped him as soon as they could close the door behind him.

Cody reached out a hand and shook the large man on the shoulder, looking around to make sure they weren't being watched Cody spoke Mark's name firmly and finally he opened one eye.

"I feel like I have been in a drinking contest with an Irish alcoholic and lost." He said as he pulled himself to an upright sitting position and lent his back against the bars.

"Me too, I think, but I still have the keys and the Captain is not here, I have to try and find her." Cody whispered as he helped Mark to stand.

"Great, maybe she is being kept in the same place he has Beth, she will be on the lowest decks in the isolation units." Mark spoke back in equally hushed tonnes and glanced around at two guards who passed them by with barley a turn of the head.

"Pretty lax on security here, we could probably make a break for it and get the Captain, and your friend before they come back round." Cody said allowing a small smile to cross his lips.

"Yeah remember what happened last time my friend, no I think we need to wait for a distraction." Mark said as he turned and looked around for Michelle, finding her he woke her gently and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Do you think your ship will come for you?" Mark said as Michelle with the help of her husband regained her balance and stood upright leaning on Mark for support.

"No doubt about it, they will come." Cody said his voice not wavering in the slightest and Mark couldn't help but smile at the young man.

"Confidence can be a virtue son, but I always have a plan B." Mark said beckoning to Cody to come to the back so they could hatch plan B.

"Sir there they are long range scanners, about five miles ahead of us, cutting a pretty fast pace. From the looks of it they are doing about thirty knots and they are not alone." Ted said as finally his monitor beeped with the presents of the ship they were perusing.

"How many Mr Debasie?" Randy asked walking towards the window hoping to catch a glimpse of the battle cruiser that had his Captain.

"Jut two sir, but I would exercise caution, they could do a lot of damage to us between them." Ted said as he could sense Randy's inpatients to get there.

"I know Lieutenant thank you for your observations, but right now , we have no idea of the status of our missing crew, which need I remind you includes our Captain." Randy said trying not to sound to angry but failing miserably. He couldn't help it, if he found out that he had just been five minutes too late he would never forgive himself.

"Battle stations, Mr Jericho turbo drive, lets hit them hard and fast." Randy ordered as he sat in his chair as the claxon sounded and the crew rushed to get ready for the on coming battle.

"Load the forward torpedo bays, take out the smaller ship, don't destroy it take out their engines, then get between them and the larger ship." Randy said as he looked at his screens and saw the thirty meter or so gap between the ships. He was betting that the Captain would be on the larger ship, one he recognised from there first encounter in this strange world.

He knew it was a risk he could be doing the completely wrong thing but it was better than doing nothing, he also knew that they would be pretty out numbered once they had the ship and getting their officers back would not be that easy, in fact if he wasn't carful Randy could loose the entire ship here just to rescue two people, but there is a saying in the US Navy Army or Air force and that was never leave a man behind and he would be dammed if he was going to break that motto now.

"Torpedoes ready sir." John said as all his systems had a green light for go.

"Forwards missiles standing by commander." Mike also reported and Ted turned in his chair.

"We are ready commander, now all we have to do is convince them to give us back our Captain."

Randy only paused for a second before standing up and looking at the two ships now looming large in the windows and hesitated even less.

"Fire!"

Mickie didn't realise that she had fallen asleep, but she must have done for she was jolted away by the sound of a large explosion.

"What the hell!" She exclaimed as she ran for the small window but once again saw nothing.

"Hey what's going on?" She yelled out but she did not expect a reply.

"I wouldn't bother no one will here you." Mickie was stunned by the sound of another woman's voice, she had been shouting down the place earlier and she had not spoke up then.

"Who are you?" Mickie called out knowing that these walls were pretty thick and she could only just here the other woman.

"Beth, I think you were supposed to be my rescue party." She said a slight hint of humour I to her voice and Mickie could see the irony in it.

"Yeah I guess so, but maybe our rescue party is being rescued." Mickie said as the sound of gun fire could be heard clamouring right though the depths of the ship.

"Maybe be?" the woman answered but she did not sound too hopeful. From what Mickie had heard though there had been many attempts to rescue this woman and all had failed, she supposed this one was seemed no different.

"If it is my crew I can bet we will be out of here very soon." Mickie said but the woman did not reply this time and Mickie let out a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling as the floor pitched and pushed her against the wall roughly. Using her hand to break her fall Mickie shook out her ankle as she could feel the muscles strain at being tossed around.

"Damm it Randy, try and leave me in one piece." Mickie said to herself as she felt the ship she was on slow down and shudder to a halt.

Cody was opening the door the second the gun fire stated, they had not planned for it to happed quite this quickly but they all wanted out as soon as possible.

The ship was pitching in the water, rolling with the waves off the torpedo shots, but it was the other ship that was taking most of the damage. As Cody ran to the isolation units with Mark he felt their ship finally stop dead in the water, the engines grumbling to a stop as either they were forced that way or purposefully done. Cody didn't have time to wonder as they ran down another staircase into a much darker part of the ship.

There were no windows down here, only a few lights on the walls that just seemed to cast eerie shadows along the narrow corridors.

"Quick, if they find us down here we will have no where to go." Mark said almost pulling him along by the wrist as another explosion shook the ship, this time it was much closer. The air smelt like burnt steal and the acrid smell was making Cody wretch.

"They are firing at us now, I hope your guys know when to stop." Mark said coving his mouth with his sleeve as smoke filled the cabin.

"Me too." Cody replied as they came upon the isolation rooms.

Cody check them all though the window until he found the Captain in the last one on the right and tried some of the keys in the lock.

Her room was free of smoke but she seemed to be unconscious as she was face down on the floor.

"Captain I'm here can you get up?" Cody yelled though the door as he finally found the right key. Mark had been standing opposite him waiting impatiently for the keys as he had found Beth also and he now unlocked her door to. The tall blonde woman came out coughing loudly as she inhaled the smoke in the corridor which was getting increasingly thicker.

Cody was in the room with Mickie, he was bending over her checking her pulse but she had a nasty lump on her head and that seemed the cause of her lack of consciousness.

"Pick her up and come on, or we are all going to die down here." Mark yelled at the floundering young man. Cody didn't need telling twice, scooping Mickie up and lifting her bridle style he ran out of the small room and followed Mark and Beth back up into the light of the upper decks.

"The ship is disabled sir, but they still have weapons, we need to keep out of their rage if possible." John said as the smaller ship began to slow and get left behind. The large of the ships, the high commander's ship was slowing down also, they had realised what had happened and did not want to get too far from their escort.

"Hard to Starboard Mr Jericho end around them come of their port side." Randy barked as the Legacy pitched hard then righted in the water.

"Fire aft torpedo, aim for their weapons Mr Mizanin." Ted shouted as the larger ship started turning in the water also to try and drive them back into the other ship.

There was a sudden silence as the torpedo was launched, the big ship started to turn but was to slow and the torpedo hit the port side of the ship ripping a hole in the side and causing an obvious fire below decks.

"We didn't hit anything major but that fire should keep them busy." Mike said grinning at the damage they had caused.

"Not good enough, I need them unable to move if they can run they can get away." Randy shouted as a missile hit there starboard bow and the Legacy lurched and tipped hard to the left.

"Damm it take that other ship down, I have had it with time lines and future paradoxes, it means nothing if we are dead." Randy yelled above the hissing of a burst pipe and he grasped hold of the tactical station next to Ted.

"Launch another missile Ted aim for their engines and blow a hole in them so big I can see all the way though to the other side." Ted was slightly taken back by the venom in the mans voice, but at this point Ted couldn't blame him. They had done nothing in this world but get shot at and treated like dirt, it was time for some payback.

"Aye sir!" Ted said quickly as he checked the targeting scanners and fired. It took only a few minutes for the crew of the other ship started heading for the life boats and Randy couldn't suppress a grin. Getting on the radio he pushed the button for wide band.

"This is commander Orton you have two of my crew members and I would like them back, if not I will destroy your ship and pick them out of the water later, its up to you." With that Randy sat in his chair to wait for a reply.

Mickie awoke to find herself wrapped around her helms man.

"What's going on." Mickie asked groggily, as she tried to look around her but her vision was swimming and her head pounded like a drum.

"We are getting out of here Captain, you banged your head, just hold on the Legacy is here." Cody said as they made a quick left and though a door where Michelle was waiting for them with a life boat.

Cody let Mickie get to her feet but she seemed unsteady and he helped her in to the small boat.

Looking up she noticed Beth embracing Michelle quickly as they too climbed aboard and Mark started to lower them into the water.

Mickie realised that the firing had stopped for now and she realised that Randy was probably trying to negotiate their freedom right now.

"If only we could let them know we are off the boat." Mickie said to no one in particular but it made Cody have a brain wave. Digging around in his pocket he pulled out the damaged radio.

"Ma'am look I think I can fix it." Cody said showing her the item and Mickie's face lit up almost immediately.

"Good work lieutenant, now as quickly as you can so they don't blow us out of the water too."

"Commander, I am afraid you are mistaken we do not have any of your crew, you have just killed many of our people for no reason." Sambo's voice came over the radio and Randy gave Ted a pair of raised eyebrows and shook his head slightly.

"High commander I am sure you are used to idol killing, but I can assure you we know you have them, so unless you want to spend the next few minutes saying goodbye to the fishes just hand them over and we will leave you alone." Randy said without a hit of amusement in his voice.

"Commander we really do not have them, I am telling the truth, I admit we did but they have escaped when you were firing upon us, they could be dead for all I know."

There was something in Sambo's voice that told Randy he was telling the truth, it was like he was speaking to him as an equal not a slave and he knew that this was not good.

"I need to send over my people to search your ship, we need to find them dead or alive." Randy said finally, but all he got in reply was static.

"Could be their comm. System is down sir they took some pretty heavy damage." John said as Randy watched the ship drift in the water and he thought he had done it, he had killed his own Captain because he had been too concerned with getting some revenge.

"Sir he didn't say no maybe we should at least try to dock with the ship we will soon know if they don't like it." Ted said cautiously from his chair next to randy as he saw the tall mans face darken.

"Ok Mr Jericho set a cause to rendvous with the high commanders' ship…" His voice was stopped by the crackling of the radio and a small voice coming from the other end.

"Turn up the gain Mr Mizanin." Randy barked as he could here the voice of Cody Rhodes clearly now.

"Rhodes to Legacy do you read me?"

"Loud and clear Cody, are you with the Captain?" Randy asked as he tightened his grip on the back of his chair.

"Yeah and a few of the rebels, permission to come aboard Sir?" The young man asked the joy in his voice quite evident.

"Permission granted!" Randy said already heading down for the docking bay and he threw a glance over his shoulder as the lift doors started to close.

"You have the…"

"Yeah yeah." Ted said waving his hand at the disappearing officer as he heard engines roar to life. He looked out of the window and saw the high commanders' ship peel away, it wasn't going fast in fact they could have caught up with them in a second, but Ted decided that could wait for another day. Now was a time to welcome back their missing crew members and maybe some new friends.

End of chapter 7 Randy got Mickie back and now he will have to face her about his actions which almost got them all killed, how is he going to tell her why?

Also now Beth is back will she create a weapon that can destroy the UAN, or maybe she can send the Legacy and her crew home? Maybe she will tell them that it is not possible

If you want to know just hit that review and I will be happy to oblige, as ever all feedback is read and appreciated. I would like to extend a special thank you to Sophia0401 and xxfuturewwedivaxxx for their awesome support and wonderful reviews over the last few months I cannot express how much you guys make me smile. I would recommend their stories to anyone.

Happy reading.


	8. Enough!

Well I seem to be a bit obsessed with this story at the moment so here is another update for you.

Randy almost ran in to the medical bay, his eyes flashed around the room looking for his Captain. Cody was next to him in an instant and Randy smiled at him and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Well done son how is she?" He said still scanning the room for her.

"She is with the doc now, but he said she will be fine." Cody said leading Randy over to Dr Borne who was standing by Mickie's bed side.

"Captain, how are you feeling?" Randy said as the petite woman half sat up and smiled at him.

"None the worse for wear, thanks for coming for us Commander." She said with a genuine smile that made Randy's heart flutter.

"She is not fine, she has a concussion and I am going to need to keep her here for observation, at least over night." Dr Evan Borne said as he replaced his clip board on the end of Mickie's bed and folded his arms.

"I'm fine plus I need to get back we still have people out there to save and we have to try and contact the rebels so we can get Beth back to her brother." Mickie said trying to get up out of the bed but was immediately pushed back down by Evan.

"Doctors orders Captain and not even you can override me on this one, you suffered a severe blow with an extended period of loss of consciousness, I am sure the commander can handle all of these things for a few hours." Evan looked at Randy with a pleading look in his eye and Randy caught on quickly.

"No problem Captain, we can take the ship back to the intrepid and see if we can contact the rebels from there. It will be pretty much a waiting game until then." Randy said focusing his mind once more on the job in hand now that he was sure Mickie was going to be safe.

"Fine but I want to be kept informed." Mickie said finally settling back into the pillows and a frown donning her face. Randy turned to leave when Evan caught him on the arm.

"Sir the woman we rescued from the UAN ship showed prolonged exposure to torture techniques, I wouldn't recommend being taken by these guys for any length of time." He said in a hushed tone so no one else in the full medical bay could here their conversation and Randy inclined his head down to the far shorter man.

"Glad I got them out of there as quickly as I did now, thank you Dr I will keep it in mind. Don't tell the Captain yet I will inform her myself when she is fully recovered." With that Randy turned to leave, Cody caught up with him as he got to the door but a alto voice rang out across the medical bay and stopped them in their tracks.

"Mr Orton we do however need a meeting to discuss your little rescue mission, I expect to see you in my ready room at 0800 tomorrow morning." Mickie said seeing the tension rise in he large first officer and she had to breath deeply to keep the smile that was threatening to erupt off her face.

"Aye Captain." Was all the reply she got as the two men left the medical bay.

Mickie had tried for most of the day to get Dr Borne to let her leave, but he was having none of it. She had finally settled for talking to the only person who was in the room with her now. Evan had finally succeeded in chasing out all the rebels and most of her senior staff who had come to check on the two women's' status.

"How are you feeling?" Mickie stated cautiously, she could see that Beth was awake she was on her side looking right at Mickie and her eyes were open.

"Better, is so good to sleep in a soft bed." Beth replied as she snuggled down further into her warm blankets.

"Did you spend all your time in that small room?" Mickie asked thinking she couldn't imagine anything worse.

"No sometimes I would be brought out and tortured for information, that was far worse than being in that room, in fact in away I come to love that room, it was sanctuary." The blonde woman closed her eyes as a single tear ran down her cheek and she pulled her hand out and wiped it away.

"I can't believe they could do that to another human being, how do they sleep at night?" Mickie said turning her eyes on to the ceiling and squeezing her eyes shut against the subtle drum of an on coming headache. When Mickie received no reply from Beth she noticed the woman had drifted off to sleep. Even in sleep Beth did not look peaceful, her face was drawn back in a kind of grimace and her hands clung tightly to her bed sheets. Mickie wondered not for the first time just what they had done to this obviously brilliant scientist to turn her in to the frightened woman Mickie now saw before her. Sighing once more there was nothing more for her to do than to close her eyes and try and get a little sleep herself although she thought it would probably be a long time coming.

Randy sat in the Captain's chair once more, Ted noticed that the man was much more relaxed now that Mickie and Cody had returned. He noticed that this reflected in the bridge crews mood also. They had all been on a pretty tight rein since waking up that morning and now it was well past 2200 hours. They had all had another gruelling day and Ted suspected that they could not continue this pace of life for very long. Turning to Randy he though this was the perfect opportunity to talk to him about it.

"Sir have you had any more thoughts on what as a crew we are going to do about running this ship for a prolonged period of time out here?" Ted said he decided that this first officer was a get straight down to it type of guy and that was the best approached with him.

"Not really although now you mention it I don't think the Captain has thought much about it either, we just assumed that we would be getting home pretty quickly and it wouldn't be an issue." Randy said scanning his monitors and seeing that the ship was running fine for the first time in two days.

"I know we all did but that looks unlikely now, I think we need to start thinking of a longer term plan for surviving out here." Ted said turning in his seat slightly and leaning towards Randy. He did not know what the rest of the bridge crew were thinking but he did not need idol gossip running round this ship before they had really decided upon anything.

"it's not just fuel, its food supplies, medical equipment, we gave quite a lot of it away and with over fifty people on board we are going to be critically low within three days." Ted said as Randy leaned in towards him and nodded his head curtly and then sat back in the Captain's chair. This is why he didn't want this chair permanently, he knew he could do it, but he was very grateful that Mickie was back with them, she was the perfect person to discuss this with, he knew she would come up with some type of plan.

"Tomorrow after I have spoken with the Captain we should schedule a meeting of the senior staff to discuss this, we should have dropped the rebels off by then and we will have more freedom in whatever we choose to do." Randy said finally as they came upon the Intrepid and Randy asked for Mark to be brought to the bridge. It was time to at least get them back home and hopefully they would be willing to help them further in the future if they needed it.

As Mark entered the bridge he looked around and gave Cody a quick smile as he sat at the helm and turned his chair around to face his rescue companion.

"Mr Calloway I hope you are feeling better." Randy said offering the larger man his hand.

"Much we are in your dept for saving both us and Beth, I am sure out here all lone you are going to need all the friends you can get though." Mark said shaking his hand firmly and giving Randy a small knowing smile.

"Indeed, now it looks like your ship was heavily damaged, I don't think you will be going on her anywhere soon, but do you have a means on board to contact your other ship?" randy asked as they made their way across the bridge and over to the opps station.

"Kind of, we have a distress beacon that we can send out, but I don't need to get to my ship to do it." Mark said looking down at the communications controls and looking slightly confused.

"I'm not sure how to work your controls." He said finally and Randy called John over and asked him to show Mark how to work everything and get the message sent.

Half an hour later a signal from John Cena's ship came back, it was short and to the point but Randy could easily detect the joy that was in the mans voice.

"Mark glad you are ok, I am happy to know about Beth and we will be heading you way within the hour."

Mark was smiling when Ted came up to him and offered him a cup of tea. Taking it he noticed the mans hands were shaking and Ted raised an eyebrow in concern.

"It's nothing just an old injury to my wrists, apparently hanging from them for any length of time is not good for them." Mark said there was humour in his voice but not in his eyes and Ted couldn't help but look sad.

"Maybe our Dr can have a look at you?" Ted suggested but Mark was already shaking his head.

"I have the damage is to old and to extensive, your medical knowledge is far greater than ours and I am glad Beth got to be treated here, as for me a bit of hand shaking is the least if my worries, I mean I have to find a new ship." This time there was a smile and Ted decided not to push the man, they were all tired and he himself was not up for an in depth discussion of the UAN'S torture techniques. Walking back down to the command chairs he sat down heavily and took in a deep breath. All there was left to do now was wait and Ted really hated waiting.

Mickie woke up to the found of a very quite ship, the silence was not scary however it was peaceful like floating out on a lie low in the middle of a deserted pool. Mickie swung her legs over the side of the bed and realised that her headache had mercifully vanished. Looking around and seeing no one Mickie decided to risk a little trip to the bridge just to check up on what was going on. Making her way silently across the medical bay Mickie was just opening the door when a cough came from the room across from her position.

"Captain you are free to go, but you may wish to dress first." Evan said smiling from his office desk as Mickie looked down at herself and grimaced at the sight of the hospital gown.

"Point taken Dr what time is it?" Mickie said as she made her way back to her bed a grabbed her clothing from underneath. It was only now that she noticed that the occupant of the other bed was gone and she turned abruptly towards the approaching Dr.

"It's 07:45 and before you ask I released miss Phoenix to the other rebel ship." Before he could complete his sentence Mickie was rushing out of the room pulling on her shoes as she went.

"Thank you Dr but I am late, I might not even get time to change." She shouted down the corridor as she made her way to her cabin to grab some clean clothes and freshen up.

Mickie couldn't believe she had been allowed to sleep that long, she had a meeting with randy in ten minutes and she had no idea what had gone on in the last eight hours. Pulling her grimy hair up in to a bun she would have to forgo the shower in trade for being on time. Shrugging on her jacket she left her room and headed for the bridge.

Mickie was seated at her desk when Randy knocked on her door and she asked him to come in.

"Morning Captain I trust you slept well." Randy said with a small grin as he took the seat opposite her.

"Indeed commander, I take it you had something to do with my uninterrupted night." Mickie said not letting Randy's smirk go unnoticed.

"Yeah well you needed it, in fact we all did." Randy said hoping to steer the conversation away from his own dressing down.

"I know Commander, and I hope we can sort something out concerning crew rotation, but that can wait until later, we need to discuss what happened yesterday."

Randy tensed in his chair slightly and Mickie allowed a small smile to play on her lips.

"I can only apologise for how I acted, I should have gone in with a better plan, I could have gotten us all killed." Randy spoke up quickly, he did not want to see disappointment in her eyes even for a moment.

"Good now we have that cleared up." Mickie said standing up and looking out of the small window and seeing the rebel ship right along side them she turned back to Randy.

"Thank you commander, for coming back for us, and for doing it so quickly, I think we have underestimated these people, technology wise they are fairly primitive but as for intelligence they are right up there on a par with us. Plus they are on home soil and I feel like we are way in over our heads here." Mickie said taking her seat once more and having another sip of coffee as Randy got over the let off he had just been given.

"Umm yes Ma'am I have organised a meeting of the senior staff for after this meeting. We have followed the rebel ship to a bolt hole they know and so far there has not been a UAN ship in sight." Randy said watching her closely and he swore he could almost see the cogs turning as she thought about a plan of action.

"Good tell them to gather in the meeting room in half an hour I would also like to speak to the rebel leaders, I think we could do with a few allies out here, and so far we have made far more enemies." Mickie said a she drained her cup and placed it on her desk with a clink as she held out her hand for him to lead the way back to the bridge.

As Randy and Mickie exited the bridge Randy instructed Ted to contact the Discovery and request the presence of Mark and John. Ted turned and mad the arrangements quickly he knew that Mickie would not want to sit around in one place too long and he knew that the UAN were defiantly not sitting around. Not only were they interested in legacy for her technology but now they had destroyed two of their battleships and almost killed their high commander. No this was going to be highly personal soon and Ted knew they had to be ready for it.

Melina sat looking at all the men around the table and her eyes finally fell upon her Captain who was sat at the head of the table just listening to everyone's chatter. Melina knew she would get her turn and rather than add to the rabble she decided to copy the captain and remained an observer for now.

"Gentlemen please!" Mickie said finally as the noise grew to a crèche do and she could feel her headache coming back.

"One at a time." She said looking first at Melina.

"Actually Captain I am all good down in the engine room, everything is working a peek efficiency, that is except the staff. We are getting hit pretty hard down there Ma'am, we only have a few engineers on board and one of us has to be down there at all times checking the systems." Melina said allowing her clasped hands to rest on the table and her eyes to meet her commanding officers.

"I understand Lieutenant and the sleep issue is something I want to address immediately. Does any one have a suggestion on how we can get around this constantly having to move problem?" Mickie asked looking around for raised hands.

"We could always go in search of a base, but I think staying still for too long would be counter productive, we are likely to be found." Ted said finally speaking up and receiving nods from all around.

"What about rotating the crew half on half off, at least we would get some down time." Cody suggested but randy was already shaking his head.

"Not enough staff on the ship to keep her running at those levels, plus we seem to be on constant alert those sleeping wouldn't have a chance if we were caught in a gun fight." He said as he looked across at john Cena who seemed to be deep in thought.

"Captain I know you said that you did not want to get involved in our war, but here you are well and truly in the middle, and I can't help but wonder if the crew of the Intrepid couldn't join your crew, just until we have a new ship for them, they could take the pressure of your existing crew and offer you guidance." He said as he looked down the table at the small yet obviously in control woman who was pondering his suggestion.

"You know we are a marked ship, I can not guarantee any ones safety and our primary mission is to return home. If we have to leave at a moments notice I am not sure we could get them off the ship." Mickie said but the suggestion did have its merits.

"I will join you myself, I will bring with me a small crew who are all dedicated to stopping the UAN. We will be happy to help you get home if we can, but we ask that in return you help us." John said, he could see that his offer had shocked Mickie and he thought he might just have pushed this too far. Randy was looking from the rebel to his Captain and he could see that she was seriously considering it. He wanted to reach across to her and shout NO don't do it, but he couldn't the best he could do was to try and catch her eye.

"I will accept your offer Mr Cena, but only you and one other, I will need a guide, and you have just volunteered." Mickie said thinking that right now, other than sleep the crew needed a moral boost and living on the dull grey ship was one thing keeping them low.

Some of them had not been aboard long missions, some were on their first mission and although it had only been three days they had seemed more like a life time. It was amazing how situations could make time seem to disappear but also take a life time. What the crew needed was shore leave and hope.

One was going to have to do for now, she looked John in the eyes as the man inclined his head and accepted her offer. He knew as well as she did it was unlikely she was going to let any of his crew try and work on this ship. It would present them with new technologies and could even put the ship in danger.

"I look forward to working with you Mr Cena, the first order of business is to find somewhere we can get new food supplies and maybe get a little R and R." Mickie said offering her young helms man a smile as she knew he had had it worst than most and still the young man was smiling back at her.

"I know the perfect place, it's a bit of trip but it will be worth it." John said as that officially ended the meeting and the senior staff broke up to go back to their duty stations. Leaving Mickie and Randy to decide to follow John's advice and head out once moor in to the wide blue ocean.

Mickie was once again sat in her chair, she felt like she had come home. Smiling at her helms man as he turned to her awaiting her instructions, Mickie quirked her mouth at one side and tilted her head slightly to the left.

"Mr Debasie what is the weather like in Japan right now?" She said playfully over her shoulder to her friend and he answered with and equally playful smirk.

"Pretty nice from what I can tell on the radar, warm and sunny I would guess." He said not actually having a clue but this was just how their conversations went sometimes, it helped the more inexperienced bridge officers relax and although Ted would never admit it him too.

"Good because I think that is where we are headed, I hope you all like sushi. Mr Rhodes enter new heading. 238 mark 56 half speed, lets go visit Japan." Mickie said half a smile on her face as Legacy roared to life and Cody watched as the Discovery became no more than a dot on the horizon.

Mickie relaxed slightly as the ship coasted along without any sign of enemy ships, John had said that the Asian community generally kept out of the fighting, they were not as persecuted as the white people but were not treated great either. John said that they often traded with them, it was a risky thing to do but Mickie knew that there could be far more reward than loss. She knew that Randy would not be happy about her going to do the negotiations again but this time she had a plan, an olive branch if you will of friendship. She was going to take him with her this time and leave Ted in charge of Legacy. Considering going to her ready room to check the latest reports from the heads of department Mickie was stopped before she could even stand fully upright as she turned slowly to the voice of her operations Ensign who was looking straight at her.

"Captain I think you should come and have a look at this." He said his voice loud but had a slight waver in it and Mickie could feel her pulse start to race at just the sight of his wide eyes.

"What is it ensign?" She asked stepping up on to the higher level and looking at the charts that had cause the young man such a reaction.

"See here, and here, we are headed right for the middle of it and I don't think we can change cause in time." He said as Mickie reached down and tapped Randy on the shoulder from behind and her first officer whipped around to look at her.

"Commander instruct everyone to baton down the hatches and to secure everything that is not nailed down. We are going into what looks like a force 9 hurricane and the way out just closed behind us. We are going to have to ride this one out I am afraid." Mickie said as her Commander quickly got on the radio and alerted the rest of the crew to the sudden change in weather.

"It sure did happen fast Ma'am." John said as Mickie kept her place next to him as he tracked the storm that was gathering outside but had yet to hit them.

"That's the ocean for you Ensign, you have to have respect for it, because it has no respect for you." Mickie said as she looked over at her two newest crew members who were looking more than anxious.

"Size 9 that's huge we will be torn apart, that or capsized." Jeff Hardy said to his friend as the Captain of Legacy came over to them looking far to relaxed for Jeff's liking.

"Captain I suggest you find some way out of this, we have lost many ships in this kind of weather. Even the UAN don't attempt to sail in this." John said as Mickie perched on the ramp to the lift and clasped her hands together.

"They never had this ship, it's going to be a rough ride gentlemen I hope you don't get sea sick." Mickie said with a smile and a pat to the shoulder as she went to join Randy and looked out on the ever darkening skies.

There is chapter 8, kept them mostly out of trouble for this chapter but I couldn't do it for long. The approaching storm a am I evil or what?

As ever comments are appreciated so hit review and make me smile thank you for reading.


	9. The storm pt1

I'm back! Pesky work got in the way again, I hope if your still reading this story that you are enjoying it. I do realise just how different it is and I am letting my imagination run away with me slightly. I claim poetic licence and I will now continue with the madness.

THE STORM PT 1

Mickie stood up and walked over to the helm, placing her hand on Cody's shoulder she leaned down to him and spoke softly.

"I would like to see you in my ready room Lieutenant." Cody snapped his eyes up at Mickie but there was a soft tone in her voice and her eyes were smiling as well as her face. Nodding curtly at her he stood up and followed Mickie in to her small room.

Standing as straight as possible and watching as Mickie walked around her desk and sat down Cody was unsure as to why he was here.

He had never been in this room before, he couldn't believe just how small it was. It was almost a glorified broom closet with a desk and a coffee pot.

"Please Mr Rhodes have a seat." Mickie said pointing at the chair opposite her and Cody sat down quickly and placed his hands in his lap.

"This is your third assignment is it not Mr Rhodes?" Mickie said poring herself a cup of coffee and offering Cody some which he declined.

"Yes ma'am, this was my first posting as a Lieutenant though." Cody said as he glanced out of the window as the rain began to fall in small spots against the glass.

"I know and why do you think out of all the candidates you got this assignment Cody?" Mickie said slipping in Cody's name to help him relax around her.

"I guess because I was the best candidate, I would like to think I was very prepared for the original mission Ma'am." Cody said trying not to squirm in his seat and failing miserably.

"You were Cody, and not only that, a spotless service history and excellent sailing and navigational skills. However if you have any doubt that you can not pilot this ship though this storm I give you my complete understanding. If you are willing I have no objection to you taking the helm as every Mr Rhodes, but do not feel ashamed if you wish to defer this task." Mickie said keeping her voice soft so she did not influence his decision at all. Mickie just needed to know that her young helmsman was up for this task, she had seen him at his best on the UAN ship but in that situation you had little time to think, this storm could give them too much time and sometimes that could be more dangerous.

"I can do it Captain, I have ridden out hurricanes before, maybe not so large but in much less capable ships, with your permission Ma'am I would like to take the helm." Mickie didn't hesitate she stood as Cody followed her example and stood to attention.

"Granted Lieutenant, well done Cody." She added as he stepped back out on to the bridge. Before the door could close properly John and Jeff walked in and gave Mickie what could only be described as the evil eye.

"Captain when I said lets go to Japan I did not want to get there in a hundred pieces." John said placing both his hands on her desk and leaning forward. Trying to make himself imposing to the small woman who just looked up at him with an arched eyebrow.

"Mr Cena I can assure you I know what I am doing, this crew has to be one of the finest I have ever worked with and this ship is the best the US Navy has to offer." Mickie said sitting in her chair and allowing both men to loom over her in what she was sure was a pressure tactic.

"Your US Navy means squat to me, we have a right to a say on this ship do we not, and we want to turn back now before we are fish food." John said seeing that shouting was not going to work he tried lowering his voice and sounding threatening.

"We can not go back Mr Cena the hurricane has pushed in behind us and has closed that route off, the only way out is forward and it's the only way you will be leaving this ship, not as fish food. As for whether you have a say on this ship I will consider you position here after we have dealt with this crisis, but I can assure you Mr Cena if you wish to travel on the Legacy you will have to aquatint yourself with the US Navy and its rules, threaten me again on my ship and I will have you placed in the brig and dropped off at the nearest land mass, do I make myself clear." Mickie said standing up now to emphasise her point and earning herself two sheepish looks back in return.

"Yes Captain." Jeff said first he looked slightly uncomfortable but not as much as John who had gone slightly red.

"Yes Captain." He finally said between gritted teeth as Mickie came around from behind her desk and opened the door for them.

"I am sure you both might feel better if you spent some time in your cabin, sometimes sleeping though these storms is the best policy, the rocking always helps me to sleep." Mickie said going to stand by her command chair as Randy stood up next to her and looked at the pair of rebels as they made their way to the lift.

"Mr Morrison, Mr Mizanin would you like to make sure they get there." Mickie said keeping her voice light whilst the two young men entered the lift with John and Jeff and the doors closed behind them. Mickie let out a small breath and allowed her body to relax a moment.

"You ok?" Randy said squeezing her upper arm and Mickie felt a small shiver run down her spine at the contact. Glancing down at where his hand was she looked back up at him and offered him a smile.

"I'm fine, now Mr Orton we have a hurricane to navigate. Mr Rhodes keep our stern to the largest waves, Mr Debasie keep an eye out for anything larger than twenty feet, I want good warning this tug is slow on the turn, Mr Orton make sure all crew that is not required is locked down in a safe place and make sure Melina has enough staff to help her out." Mickie said as she sat back into her chair and her crew sprang to work around her. Just as Randy was about to leave for engineering Mickie caught his wrist and he turned to her smiling down as she let go of his wrist.

"Come back as soon as you're done Randy I want you on this bridge when the going starts getting rough." Mickie said allowing him some knowledge of just how much she was relying on him, but not too much she knew that the line she was walking with randy was a dangerous one and she had already seen glimpses of something other than friendship in his eyes.

"Aye Ma'am you can count on me." With that he almost ran up to the lift eager to get his task over and done with so that he could return to the bridge to be by Mickie's side.

Randy entered engineering and it was unusually quite. "Melina!" Randy called out as he couldn't quite find the Latino woman.

"Over here commander!" She called back crawling out of a repair tube followed by her second in command Ensign Kingston, one of the few coloured men on bored Legacy.

"Just making final checks then we are going to lock it all down, it will be too dangerous to be in here when the storm hits. If a repair is needed it will either have to wait or be patched up." Melina said wiping grease off her hands and throwing the dirt towel on to a nearby railing.

"OK well if you need any staff to help you out just let me know and I will send them right down."

"Thanks' sir, but we will be fine, like I said we won't be trying to fix anything whilst the ship is being shaken like a pair of dice at a craps table." Melina said as they walked towards her office which was in the corner of the large engine room and provided a little piece and quieter from the drone of the engines.

"Vey well Lieutenant, I will leave you too it, don't get yourselves killed down here though as long as she is floating we will be fine." Randy said as he turned for the exit and paused for a second.

"The Captain has a lot of faith in you Melina, I can see why now." With that Randy left the pair of engineers and road up in the lift to start his deck by deck check.

The ship pitched and rolled as waves battered the front windows and Mickie knew this was only the beginning. She kept glancing at the door, Randy had yet to return and she knew he had left Melina over fifteen minutes ago yet he still was not here.

"Mr Rhodes change course 6 degrees and half power keep her bow low this one is going to hurt." Mickie said as she checked her read outs and saw the large wave gathering of their port side. Following his Captain's orders Cody's hands flew over the controls sure and steadily, he did not feel as though he was out of his debt and he knew that Mickie was trusting him and that made him even more confident.

Mickie took hold of the arms of her chair as the large wave caused the ship to almost stop as it forced the stern up into the air and the ship was almost at a 45 degree angle as the wave crested and then the ship plummeted downwards.

"Slow the engines Mr Rhodes get ready to engage them once we level off." Mickie said as she cricked her neck after her head was slammed back into her chair from the impact, she just hoped that Randy was laying low whilst the storm had intensified.

"Captain the lift doors are stuck and I think someone is in there." Ted said as his monitor beeped for the third time. He had not noticed before because there had been such a lot going on but now he saw that the lift alarm was on.

"Damm it we need to get them out of there, it is probably Randy trying to get back to the bridge." Just as Mickie finished her sentence a pair of hands were prizing open the lift doors from the other side.

"Get your hands in here guys!" Randy called as Ted and John came across to help him out of the lift shaft.

"All hands brace for impact!" Mickie called suddenly as a smallish but sudden wave came upon them from the port bow and rocked the ship into the air once moor. Randy dived out of the lift and took cover with Ted behind his station.

"Thanks for the warning!" Ted called to Mickie who couldn't help but grin at the sight of Randy and Ted huddled together under Ted's desk.

Getting up Randy wobbled over to his command chair as the Legacy was thrown about like a toothy pick buy the storm.

"Sorry I am late Captain minor problem with the lift." He smirked at her and Mickie couldn't keep the smile off her own face.

"I could see that Mr Orton, are you ok?" She said the last part quietly as she did not want everyone to here the concern she had for her first officer.

"Yeah nothing a little antibac won't clear right up." Randy said looking at his scraped trousers and surely scraped knees underneath. Mickie looked slightly concerned for him for a second then Ted's voice interrupted her reprieve.

"We have a big one Captain, it's about thirty feet coming in off the Starboard side, we are not going to out run it, I suggest we head straight for it full throttle." Ted said as Mickie swivelled in her chair and looked at her old friend as if he had just told her he used to be a woman.

"Ted I know that seemed like a good idea in the films but believe me with a ship this heavy we will just be turned over." Mickie said finding the wave on her radar and she saw that as it approached them it was gaining in size and there was no way to avoid it.

"Options?" Mickie said knowing they had five minutes tops. Randy was scanning the wave and he was secretly agreeing with Ted going at it seemed to be the best option, but it was dangerous.

"We could let it hit us side on, put the engines on hard to Starboard and roll all the way though." Cody said finally as he turned to the command team sitting in the chairs behind him without a hit of irony in his voice. Mickie thought for a second, allowing the sip to roll 360 degrees was dangerous, but less so than being flipped end over end by going straight at the wave.

"Do it Mr Rhodes." Mickie said picking up the radio and called Melina.

"You what!" Melina said at the other end as Mickie finished explaining what they were about to do.

"Just buckle in down there" Mickie said she did not have time to argue with the woman and right now she had to help out Cody.

"Keep her still Mr Rhodes on my mark full Starboard engines, not before don't get twitchy on those controls or you could send us spinning off into the depths of the ocean." Mickie said as she lent forward and spoke to Cody in as much pricy as she could.

"Captain to all hands, please brace for impact." Mickie said on a ship wide announcement as every crew man and woman in their cabins on the bridge in the mess hall or where ever they were made sure they were holding onto something that was bolted to the floor.

Mickie felt as though time slowed down, she could feel the pull of the wave as it dragged the ship towards it. Feeling her hand start to shake she suddenly felt fingers slip into her own as she glanced over at Randy who was not looking at her but out at the ocean which seemed to have grown impossibly dark and Mickie clenched her own fingers around his and held his hand tight.

Legacy was rocked on to her side, the ships belly was pulled against the wash of the wave and its crew were thrown to the side of the ship. Randy tried his best to hold on to his chair and stop himself from landing on Mickie but his efforts failed as the ship tilted again and was now fully laying on its side in the water. His fingers slipped from Mickie's as she plunged down and into the side of the ship almost landing on the oops consol and landing in a heap next to Ted. Randy kept hold of his chair as the ship started to rock on to its top, he glanced over at Cody who was holding on to his chair for dear life, he could not afford to loose his grip or they might all end up at the bottom of the ocean.

Mickie shook her head trying to keep herself conscious as she realised she was almost sitting on an unconscious Ted, Mickie hoped that her falling on him was not the caused of his problem but she had no time to worry about that now. Randy and Cody were still at their chairs and that was the important thing, she knew the ship must wash though the wave to right itself again, they could not end up upside down or they would have no way of righting her again. As Mickie pulled herself up using the oops consol she felt the ship start to roll once more as the back of the wave pushed into them. Looking up she noticed that Randy was trying to climb down to help them out.

"No Randy help Cody someone has to be there to start that engine!" She shouted as the crunching of the ceiling of the bridge started as it began to take the strain of the titling ship. Mickie allowed herself to roll with the far wall, almost pushing herself up along the ceiling as it groaned under the weight of the rest of the ship. Mickie knew that it was not designed to take this kind of pressure and she was preying that it wouldn't buckle under the pressure.

Mickie heard a loud thump as Cody hit the floor in front of her, he was stunned as the ship was exactly upside down now and he had lost his battle with his chair, with nothing left to hold on to the back slipped from his grasp as not only was the ship flipped over but also knocked and bumped about.

"Shit Captain!" Cody called to the woman who had only taken a brief second to look at him before her instincts kicked in.

Randy was scrambling holding on to the arms of his chair but he couldn't let go until the ship was pushed back on to its side. He saw a flash out of the corner of his eye as the ship began to sink to the side once more.

He thought about how he was going to get to the console in time now as it would be above him when the ship finally started to turn. Pulling himself up so that he could get an arm over the side of the chair so that he could possibly stand on it as the ship rolled Randy huffed for breath at not only hauling his own body weight up on just one arm but at the sea sickness that was kicking in. this was not like normal rocking and being thrown around this was like being a sock in a washing machine and his stomach was retreating its breakfast.

Finally the ship plunged back on to its side as it did Randy scooted on to the side of the chair and made a grab for the arm of the helm. Just as his fingers closed around the chair Randy noticed a figure leap from the comm. Station and Mickie landed right on the edge of the helm.

Mickie was having to hold on for dear life, she had come up a little short on her jump, she had been so afraid of over shooting it and sliding off the other side she had under shot it and now her hands were slipping along the sheer side of the station. Pulling herself back with all her strength Mickie tried to find purchase for her feet but there was nothing but air below her and a twenty foot drop to the bow of the ship.

Not looking down Mickie watched as her fingers dug into the side of the consol without much use. Just as she was bout to give up and aim for her chair a strong pair of hands grabbed her under the arm pits.

"Randy!" Mickie said as he pulled her up from the edge of the helm chair and parched her on the edge.

"When?" was all he said as she scanned the sensors for readings. Mickie was amazed how even in this carnage the Legacy was working as well as ever apart from the fact she was flat on her starboard side and her crew had been standing on her ceiling.

"Now!" Mickie said as they hit the engine together and the starboard engine roared to life and the ship began to right itself as the last of the wave helped them along.

Ted was beginning to wake up as Cody pulled him along with him as the ship began rolling slowly back on to its belly.

"The console Mr Rhodes." Ted said groggily as he caught hold of his own station which still looked like it was coming out of the far wall.

At first Cody didn't get it be he caught on as he felt his stomach take a plunge as the ship reached a critical weight point and flipped itself back up right.

Mickie was not ashamed for having hung on to Randy for dear life and when the ship finally righted its self she watched as he hit the off button for the engine.

"Report!" Mickie bellowed as the crew started scrambling to their stations. Mickie was amazed that everyone seemed to be ok, but that had to come later she needed to know what was in front of them now, they had to be prepared for anything now, Mickie was sure this was now a mark 10 storm and she knew there was only so much pounding like that the ship could take before the structural integrity became a problem.

"Seems to have settled down somewhat, no swells that we can't avoid at least for a little while." Ted said keeping his hand on the side of his head as the blood flowing from his cut started to dry up. Cody climbed back into his chair obviously with a leg injury as he sat down on his left side and scanned the area.

"Keep on this heading Mr Rhodes I don't want any more surprises."

"Aye Ma'am, me either." Cody said throwing her a wink over her shoulder and Mickie couldn't help but smile.

"We made it." Randy said coming to sit next to her, grateful that everything was the right way up once more.

"Not quite yet Commander, but we are ok for now." Mickie said turning to the man she had clung to so tightly only a moment ago and already she could feel her command protocols slip back into place.

"Let's not count our chickens before they have hatched a Randy." She said with one more smile before she stood up to go and check on the rest of her crew.

Oh for part two of the storm just hit that review button.

I have to admit I have not ever written a story without having the last chapter sorted in my head, I like to know where I ultimately want to take the story with maybe some minor adjustments, it how I like to work, but with this story I have no idea.

Adventures a plenty in this one, but I have several options as to the ending, I would appreciate any suggestions if you have any otherwise I will carry on and just see what feels right when and if I get there. Once again thank you for reading, oh and from now on I think I might come up with titles for my chapters but I haven't decided.


	10. The storm pt2

Thank you for your patients sorry I kept you hanging on.

The storm pat2

Mickie stopped first at the medical bay, the Dr was running around checking everyone, she didn't want to disturb him but she needed a casualty report.

"Dr Borne can I have a brief report?" Mickie said making her voice heard over the din within the small room.

"Yeah its really busy!" Evan said not even glancing up at his Captain and Mickie raised her eyebrow at his tone.

"I know that Dr but I would like to know the status of my crew." Mickie said keeping her voice level knowing that Evan was under a lot of pressure and the ship was still rocking from side to side and was making life very difficult.

"Sorry Captain, no one has died, mostly lacerations, cuts and bruises a couple of broken bones but nothing too serious, but I don't think that everyone who has been injured has been able to get here." Evan said working round her and Mickie did her best to keep out of his way.

"Understood Dr you are doing the best you can, when this is all over I want a full report though." Mickie said not letting him completely off the hook but leaving the medical bay to head down to engineering.

Mickie was shocked at all the noise coming from engineering she rushed down the last few flights of stairs only to be pulled aside by a sweaty Melina.

"Captain you can't go in there, we have a blown gas pipe and its filling the engine room with toxic fumes." The woman said as Mickie noticed the woman was wearing a haz matt suit minus the helmet.

"You can't possibly be thinking of going in there." Mickie said taking the woman by the shoulders and fighting the urge to shake her.

"I have to Ma'am if we vent any more gas we will not have enough pressure to run the ship, that means no engines, no lights, no computers, even if I patch it we could save several tones." She said looking into Mickie's eyes and pleading with her to understand just how dire this situation was.

"Ok ok, I will back you up." Mickie said turning for the closet which contained the haz matt suits.

"Its ok Captain Kofi is going to do that he is in the gallery now making sure all entrances are unlocked so we can do a quick in and out." Melina said as she picked up her helmet and started to pull it over her head.

"Good luck Lieutenant." Mickie said helping Melina locked the helmet into place when Kofi returned and the crew man gave Mickie a curt nod.

"Be careful and I am pulling you out the moment I see any trouble." Mickie said as she headed up to the gallery so she could observe their progress.

Mickie could see down into the room, there was no evidence of the gas leak apart from the noise, if Melina had not stopped her she would have walked right into her death. Mickie pushed the thought out of her mind and opened a comm. Link to the bridge.

"Mr Debasie can you give me a minute by minute account of what is happening up there, Lieutenant Perez and Crew man Kingston are having to repair a gas leak, I need to know if anything big is coming so I can get them out of there." Mickie barked down the radio and Ted answered in quick order.

"Aye Captain, at the moment there is a lot of swell and a lot of rain but scanners have not detected anything bigger than fifteen meters within our immediate range." He said and Mickie nodded even though Ted could not see her, she was watching now as Melina and Kofi ran across the room in their bulky suits and opened a panel in the wall and retrieved their tools.

Rushing over to the pipe she saw Kofi hold the broken end together as Melina began to weld a patch across the effected area.

"Captain large wave of the Port side will cause significant turbulence." Ted said down the radio and Mickie pushed the button to transmit back.

"How long and how much?"

"Three minutes max and it won't roll us over but it will be pretty bumpy." Mickie got on the tannoy for engineering and spoke to the two people in the room.

"Guys you have three minutes another wave is coming in, you need to get out of there." Mickie said she didn't make it an order but her tone implied as much.

"In a second Captain I almost have it." Melina called back and Mickie glance down at her watch and new they would have only two minutes to do this and get out.

Melina felt the sweat trickle down the side of her face and she glanced at Kofi who was looking at her with worry in his eyes, they both knew this was going to be pushing it.

Taking the welding torch and pulling faster across the panel Melina knew it might not hold for long but it didn't need to a couple of hours at the most.

"Melina get out of there that is an order!" Melina winced and the tone of voice from her Captain, but she could not stop now it would just pop off as soon as the ship rocked harder.

"One more minute." She called back but she knew that she did not have it, the Captain was not going to agree with her but she would deal with that if and when it came to it.

"Damm it Melina your going to get yourself killed!" Mickie yelled as she dropped the radio and rushed down the stairs.

Mickie had to hold tight to the rail as the ship pitched upwards again, this time without the information on the bridge she had no way of knowing what was going to happen next and she did not like the feeling one bit.

Leaping on to the ground which was no longer level Mickie pulled herself up the corridor by using the joins and rails on the walls. As the ship tilted even further up Mickie realised that this was no fifteen footer and unless Cody got more power from the engines they might not make it all the way. Turning and looking though the window into engineering Mickie saw that Melina was almost done, the tension of only being able to watch was making Mickie sweat with anticipation and finally Melina turned of the torch and stood up. Kofi grabbed what he could and Melina brought the torch with her, running for the exit Mickie hauled open the door just as the ship stated plummeting down the other side of the wave.

"We're coming in too fast." Mickie thought as the lights flickered as the ship impacted the surface of the ocean and Mickie was thrown against a bulkhead and her world went dark.

Melina pulled herself up by her left and none broken arm and looked over at Mickie who was sprawled out on the floor face up with a nasty looking gash on the side of her head.

Kofi was trying to help her off the floor as Melina cradled her broken arm and staggered to an upright position.

"We have to help the Captain." Melina said as she tanked Kofi for his assistance and the young engineer turned to the prone woman on the floor.

Bending down her checked her pulse and found it strong and steady.

"She is breathing and she has a pulse I think she is just unconscious." He said placing a hand on Mickie's shoulder and trying to rouse her.

"We need some help down here." Melina said as she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her as the ship continued to rock and sway.

"I will contact the bridge from the gallery and they could send someone down." Kofi said and Melina waved him off she pulled herself over to Mickie and slid down the wall to sit beside her.

"Hey" Mickie croaked out as the pressure from Melina's knee in her side finally woke her up.

"Hey yourself, you had an argument with the bulk head." Melina said smiling slightly as Mickie sat up wincing and cupping the side of her head in her hand.

"Yeah and I know who won, your arm." Mickie said finally noticing Melina's limp and swollen arm as she pulled her own back against the wall for support.

"I lost my argument too." Melina said just as Kofi came back to join them.

"Mr Debasie is coming to help get you two out of here." He said looking down at the two women and feeling slightly better now they were both conscious and talking.

"You almost got yourselves killed back there, I should court martial you for disobeying my direct orders." Mickie said as she heard foot falls coming down the stairs.

"But you won't." Melina said giving her an evil grin and Mickie couldn't help but grin back.

"No but next time I might not open the door." Mickie said as Ted reached them followed by Mike who helped Melina up with Kofi's help they got her up the stairs and down to the medical bay to get checked out.

"I know what you are going to say and no I am not going, I have to get back to the bridge." Mickie said as Ted helped her up and together they made their way up the constantly moving stairs.

"I wasn't even going to mention it, I know you better than that, but at least take it easy for a while, it looks like we are entering the eye so things should calm down at least for a while." Ted said as they pulled open the doors for the stairs to the bridge as the lift was still down.

"Ok fine maybe a pain killer would be in order too, any way your just as bad as me, I bet you haven't seen the Dr either." Mickie said referring to Ted's own battered head and he patted it softly.

"Doc wouldn't find anything in their any way." He laughed and Mickie scowled at her friend as they pushed open the heavy door and entered the bridge.

The bridge was surprisingly quite, the only noise seemed to come from the buzzing of machinery and the beeping of the console's Randy stood up quickly as Mickie entered the bridge but she waved a hand at him to indicate that she was ok.

Randy had been pacing the bridge and checking the readouts every thirty seconds until Kofi's contact over the comm. System, at first he had said he would go himself but Ted pointed out that he should remain on the bridge at this time of crisis and that he and Mike were perfectly capable of escort duty. Randy had no good reason to dispute this so he let them go, spending the five minutes it took for them to return to the bridge worrying over what he might see when she came back.

"Captain how are you?" randy said as she sat back down in her chair and looked at her sensors but she could already fell the ship was far quieter and the rain had stopped pummelling the windows.

"I'm fine commander nothing a pain killer and a good nights sleep wont fix any way, what's the status report?" She asked not looking up at him and not missing a beat.

"We seem to have entered the eye, I doubt this will last for much longer than ten minutes though before we cross though to the other side."

"What can we expect when we get there?"

"Much of the same I am afraid, but we got though it before I am sure we can do it again." Randy said as Mickie finally met his eyes and he could see a hint of doubt in them, it was the first time he had seen anything like that from her and it worried him now.

"Can I speak to you in my ready room Commander. Mr Debasie you have the bridge." Mickie said as she stood up and made her way across the deck with a small squeeze of Cody's shoulder as she passed him.

Cody knew the Captain was thanking him without actually saying it but he appreciated the gesture but he had also caught the look of worry in her eyes and he knew at this moment in time he would not want her job for all the money in the world.

Mickie just waited for Randy to shut the door before sighing heavily and pouring herself a cup of slightly stale coffee.

"I am not sure we are going to make this Randy." Mickie said deciding to open with a bit of honesty.

"Of course we will, the ship is fine and I know this crew will handle it."

"What crew we have left, we have lost our chief engineer at least for a while, the Doc is stretched to the limit and the ship is being held together with a welding torch."

"But we are making it, we have little choice now though." Randy said finally placing his hand on her shoulder and allowing his touch to comfort her. He could see she was going over every decision that she had made, trying to figure out how she could have prevented this whole mess.

"It's not your fault you know."

"No? I am the Captain I could have looked for an alternate route, I could have kept well away from those UAN ships hell I could have even ignored Ted's weird sensor reading but I didn't and now we are stuck out here like a cork bobbing about in a large ocean with no way of getting home and an extremely high chance of getting ourselves killed, so yes Commander it is my fault."

"Your not alone Mickie, don't ever fell that way." Randy said as Mickie levelled her eyes with his and he could see something flash in them and then it was gone as quickly as it had come.

"You are a good first officer Randy and I could not have chosen anyone better, now I am done with my rant shall we see if we can't steer this ship though this storm." Mickie said breaking the moment quickly and stepping out from under his arms and going to the door.

Cody was the first one to notice the rain as he was the one sitting the closest to the windows but he was the only one really looking out f them at the time. Everyone else way desperately trying to get the bridge tidied up and connecting the Captain to various parts of the ship for status reports.

There was not too much damage on most of the decks mainly mess and broken glass, no one had died and most of the injuries were superficial. Melina had a broken radius, but it was a small fracture and would heal quickly. Mickie felt slightly more at peace now that she knew her crew were ok and she was just starting to relax again when Cody turned around and said.

"Look Captain, look at the windows." Mickie looked up slowly she did not want to see the rain falling in rivers along the large viewing windows' at the front of the ship, neither did she want to see the almost black sky as it rolled out endlessly before them, but she did look.

"It's ok Lieutenant, steady as she goes keep up the speed for as long as possible I want to get though this as fast as possible." Mickie said and she was surprised at how level her voice came out, as she was feeling anything but level.

"Aye ma'am." Cody said turning to his station as the Legacy rocked up once more on to a medium sized wave as the ship stated to pitched downwards once more.

"Captain two waves are going to converge right on top of us on our current heading." Ted's voice rang out over the din of the now full throttle hurricane and Mickie turned to her radio and saw what Ted was referring to.

"Mr Rhodes change heading 35 degrees and hit the engines full speed we need to out run that crest." Mickie ordered as Cody pushed the ship full throttle and the bridge crew had to hold on to their stations to stop from falling over. Randy stared out of the window looking for the huge waves that had come up on the radar but he could see nothing.

"Where the hell are they?" Randy said as he turned to Ted who just shrugged his shoulders, the radar said they were basically on top of them but nothing was happening, in fact the ship was sailing fairly smoothly at the moment and Cody was just having to keep her level.

"Maybe we out ran then its behind us." John suggested as he scanned the area in front of them and he could see no real big waves.

"I hope.." Mickie started but was cut off by the force of the wave that struck the side of the ship. For a second Mickie was pushed flush against the side of her chair and she had the wind knocked out of her.

"What the hell!" randy called as he pushed himself back up as best her could the ship was still pushing him hard into the side of his chair, like the seat of a carnival ride. He suddenly realised what had happened.

"We are in a spin!" He shouted at no one in particular but both Mickie and Cody caught on.

"Cut power to the engines full reverse." Mickie shouted as the ship began to gain speed as another wave crashed into their side forcing the ship to spin even faster as the fell down the side of another wave.

Cody cut the power to the engines, the ship slowed down some what but without the engines to keep them stable Legacy began to tip precariously as though it were balanced on the edge of a cliff.

"Hard to port Mr Rhodes!" Mickie said as the ship spun counter clockwise and she knew she would have to slow it down.

Cody did as he was ordered and the ship shuddered at having to push against its own momentum.

"We have to cut power Captain or she will pull herself apart!" Ted called as the juddering ship began to groan under the pressure of its own engines.

"Not yet we have to slow down or we wont stop until we hit the bottom." Mickie said clutching onto the arm of her hair and leaning forward.

"On my mark Cody cut the power, we have to try this or we wont get out." She said as Randy got up and held on to the helm so that he could help Cody when the time came. Mickie glanced at her first officer and gave him a knowing look but said nothing.

Randy could feel the floor shaking beneath his feet and he could see bits of dust and metal shavings falling from the ceiling as the ship was being torn in two directions.

"Captain!" Ted shouted his warning as his screen flashed warning signs all over the place as the hull began to buckle in the centre of the ship and the groan of crunching metal could be heard though the walls and Mickie knew they could hold out no longer.

"Cut the engine!"

Cody hit the controls and Randy stopped the young man from colliding with his own consol as the ship gave a scary lurch to the side and then levelled out.

"Nice!" Mike exclaimed as the legacy headed once more in the right direction and he found his station and pulled himself up to check on the ships systems.

"We have a hull breach on deck 15" Mike said as Mickie turned to him and raised her eyebrow.

"Ok grab who ever you can and get down there." Mickie said knowing that the breach would not normally be too much of a problem but under the strain of this storm could soon turn into a major hole.

"Captain I think I have found a hole." Cody said looking at his navigation charts and seeing a weak spot in the hurricane as it swirled around in front of them.

"Plot the course Mr Rhodes." Mickie said checking his data over his shoulder and looking back at Randy who nodded his head and then up at Ted.

"Monitor that breach Mr Debasie I don't want to put too much pressure on her until that is fixed." Mickie said as Ted opened a radio channel to Mike and his engineers to keep in touch with their progress.

"What do you think Mickie, fast or slow?" Randy said and she could help but here the slight suggestive tone in his voice.

"Personally I am a hard and fast type of girl, but for now with those men patching up that breach I think slow and easy." Mickie couldn't help herself as she looked at the expression on Randy's face.

"Aye Ma'am" Was all he managed as he told Cody to go at quarter speed and the heading he wanted to take.

Mike Mizanin had manage to get three guys together including Jeff one of the rebels they had on bored to help them close the small breach they had on their lowest deck. He had found Jeff perched outside the medical bay, John had been injured in the rotation of the ship and Jeff was now feeling slightly useless.

"Hey man fancy coming and doing a patch job on the new girl?" Mike said in a friendly tone and the multi hair coloured man nodded and joined the Ensign below decks. When the ship started forward again more water started pouring in but Mike was not worried they could use the bow pumps to get the water out later.

"Hey man I need some help- over here!" Jeff called as the piece of bulkhead he was welding began to split. Mike ran over and grabbed a piece of metal sheet to block the gap quickly before it could rip open any wider.

With two guys holding it and Jeff welding the leak was soon plugged and in just the nick of time as Legacy started pitching around again as they started to push their way though the storm.

"Guys report a sealed leak Captain, we are good to go." Ted said as Cody warmed them that the gap was closing and if they didn't go now they would not go at all.

"Do it Mr Rhodes!" Mickie called as Cody hit the turbo engines and the Legacy shot forward.

Mickie could almost smell the sun as the clouds seemed to suddenly vanish as the storm was left behind them and calmer waters lay ahead.

"Shut it down Mr Rhodes." Mickie said as she stood up and looked at the bright light bouncing of the carbon plated deck below the windows and she had to shield her eyes from the glare.

"Well done" Mickie said turning to what was left of her bridge crew and finally turning to Randy and inclined her head towards him.

"Thank you Randy." She whispered as her large and rather mean looking first officer gave her a heart breaking smile.

"All in a days work Captain, can I suggest something?" He asked as the crew began to settle down and check their exact location on the radar.

"Why not this day couldn't possibly get any worse." Mickie said with a slight smirk at her own joke.

"Ha Ha maybe we could stop off somewhere and get off this damm boat." Randy said and Mickie let out a small snort.

"Never thought I would get enough of the ocean Mr Orton, but for once solid ground does seem like a good idea. Mr Debasie any Islands close by we can use?" Mickie said turning to Ted who had over heard the conversation and was already looking for somewhere suitable.

"Aye Ma'am there is a small island I think we can get close enough to get some shore leave." Ted said scanning the area which seemed devoid of any ships and the storm seemed to have gone on its merry way behind them.

"Great Mr Rhodes set course for the Island I think its about time we all had a little rest don't you?" With that the Legacy turned on it original heading and set of for the little slice of paradise they had found in this ever changing ocean.

"Japan can wait for another day." Mickie said closing her eyes and allowing her head to fall back on to her chair as she let the suns rays caress her face.

End of the storm hope you enjoyed as ever reviews are read and appreciated.

Thank you for reading I will try and make the effort to update quickly and I am glad people are reading this very AU fic and sticking with it, I do like to try and keep my plots original.


	11. Paradise lost

I'm back thought I would put you all out of your misery quickly, please enjoy.

Paradise lost

They had found the perfect Island, it was big enough that the Legacy could get pretty close and it was only a short trip back and forth on the D-Ex. They had soon realised however that they would have to go in shifts, it was too dangerous to have everybody off Legacy at one time. If there was an attack or another storm there would have to be someone on board to defend the ship.

It was monotonous and boring but both Randy and Mickie managed to hash out a quick rota for shore leave.

"I think we are done." Randy finally said as he threw down his pen and handed Mickie the final schedule.

"You know what I am almost to the point of not caring, but I know people will want to go over with friends, yet we need to leave enough qualified staff on board." Mickie said as she scanned the list once more and paused.

As she had requested she was not to take sure leave until the afternoon and John and Jeff from the rebels were to be on her rotation. She knew both men needed Legacy and its crew to help advance them in this war but she still could not bring herself to trust them completely. No it was not this that caught her eye but it was that Randy had put himself down to go with them.

"I thought we agreed that at least one of us should stay aboard." Mickie said trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. It wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with him, on the contrary she enjoyed his company, but he had ignored her concerns for the safety of the ship.

"I know we did, but then I thought if Ted is going with Cody and the other bridge officers in the morning who will you have to talk to on your rotation, I am sure if their Captain is hanging around them they will find it hard to relax too. If however you feel that Mr Debasie id not capable of babysitting then I will change it back." Randy said trying a bit of subtle guilt to persuade her.

"I know what you are trying to do Mr Orton and believe me it won't work. Ted is very capable of baby sitting as you put it, maybe I am just being overly cautious, but what we have been through the past four days can you blame me." Mickie said rubbing both palms across her face and levelling her eyes with her first officers.

"No I don't, I don't think any one would." Randy said locking her gaze and allowing her to search his face.

"Oh no I think the US Navy might have something to say about how I have conducted myself. Got involved in someone else's war. Fired and destroyed ships, took on board a pair of criminals and taken the ship through a force ten storm, not to mention rolling her on her roof." Mickie said getting slightly exasperated as Randy caught her hand in his own.

"I think you might just get away with pleading extenuating circumstances, all of those things we have made it through because of your decisions, not in spite of them, always remember that Captain." Randy smiled up at Mickie as she stood almost hovering over him and Randy couldn't believe even in her badly cut uniform that was supposed to make it gender neutral she still looked so beautiful.

Mickie sensed the shift in mood and pulled her hand back quickly, tugging on her jacket somewhat she smiled and walked to the door.

"Shall we give everybody the good news Commander?" She said as she pushed open the door and Randy ha no choice but to follow her.

While the first rotation were having their time on the Island Mickie and Randy had a chance to train a second bridge crew. There were several science officers and weapons experts left on board and they all had little combat or bridge experience, it helped pass the time and it might one day prove invaluable to have a back up crew.

"Good so Miss Ouellette check the sensors' and see if you can see anything now?" Mickie said she had began running a simulation to test their new found skills and her crew had not let her down. They had all picked up their new jobs quickly and as Mickie glanced down at her watch she realised that it was almost two and it was time for their shore leave to begin.

"Dismissed everyone, report to the D-ex in ten minutes." Mickie said springing up out of her chair and giving Randy a flash of her heart breaking smile as she followed the rest of her crew down the stairs.

"Captain I trust you had fun" Ted grinned at his old friend as he climbed off the D-Ex a passed Mickie just about to step aboard.

"It was lovely actually, you might want to end the simulation I had running though or Mr Morrison might have a heart attack." Mickie said as she ducked her head to climb into the boat.

"How was the weather?" Mickie asked quickly as she paused to check she was the last one to board.

"Devine, only the mosquitoes are a little annoying." Ted said pulling a face and immediately reaching to scratch his arm.

"An inconvenience I think I can live with." Mickie grinned as she finally entered the D-Ex and closed the hatch behind her.

It was a hell of a squish over twenty five people in a boat built for fifteen but it was only a short journey and it was going to be worth it. The only two people on the boat who did not look happy about this was the two rebels that had so recently boarded. Mickie knew she would have to have another little chat with them once they got settled.

"Ok this is a far as I go, last stop beautiful tropical Island." Cody said looking back at the cramped but happy crew as the door was opened in to fairly shallow water and one by one they began to drop out.

"See you at seven Mr Rhodes." Randy said patting the young man on the back and exiting just behind Mickie. With a final wave Cody took the D-Ex back to the ship and to take his position at the helm once more.

Mickie couldn't believe how warm the ocean was, it was like she was in a swimming pool not the depths of the Pacific and she wasn't sure she wanted to get out just yet. Looking at the rest of her crew fanning out across the beach she noticed that people had started to group off. For a moment she allowed her thoughts to wonder, if they were in the world a long time, maybe even for the rest of their lives would they start to pair off have families? Mickie wasn't to sure she wanted to think about that on one hand it was a nice idea that everyone would find some happiness out of this unfortunate accident, but on the other what a world to start a family in, it also meant that they would be giving up on hope of getting back to where they belonged and there was no way Mickie was going to do that.

"Mickie?" Randy placed his hand on her shoulder and she almost punched him in shock.

"Sorry I didn't realise you were there." Mickie said taking a deep breath and trying to calm down her thudding heart.

"You seemed like a million miles away." He said as they walked up to the beach together and Mickie pulled off her shoes so she could feel the sand between her toes.

"I guess I was." Mickie said not elaborating for him but making her way across the beach nodding at everyone as she went and enjoying the waves lapping at her feet.

Catching up with her Randy handed her a towel and she gratefully accepted it, placing on a part of the beach where there was little other life she felt like she should give her crew some space to relax and she knew that Randy would be placing his towel right next to hers.

A small grin crept on to her face when she watched him do just that and he tried to make it look like he wasn't.

"Nice part of the beach here." He said looking around him as he sat down and stretched his legs out in front of him and tried not to watch as Mickie sat down next to him and adopted the same position.

"Indeed Mr Orton it is." Mickie said pulling out her sun glasses and perching them on the bridge of her nose.

"Hey where did you get those from?" He said as he turned to look at her and noticing her eye wear.

"I packed them, I always do they are my lucky pair." She said as she leaned back on her elbows and tilted her chin up to the sky.

Randy couldn't help but look down at her exposed figure. She was wearing a pair of cut off shorts and a thin strapped green top, hardly racy but compared to her uniform the woman was practically naked. Randy could feel the sweat start to run down his sides and he pulled his T-shirt off over his head revealing already tanned and toned body underneath.

Mickie looked at him with her eyes sideways. The sun glasses made it look like she was looking out to sea when in reality she was moving her eyes across his body. She saw Randy glance back at her but when he thought she wasn't looking laid down on his back and crossed his legs at the ankles.

"This is paradise and I am not sure I ever want to leave." Randy said after a few hours of just sitting in the sunshine and doing nothing.

"You might change your mind once you start getting hungry." Mickie said having already scouted the area for edible plants and finding nothing.

"True and these mosquitoes are driving me potty." Randy said slapping another one off his arm and Mickie just laughed.

"What's so funny how come they don't bother you anyway?" Randy said slightly indignantly as Mickie pushed herself up to a sitting position and turned on to her stomach.

"Not sure maybe they just recognise me as the Captain and I am strictly off limits." She said with a smile and Randy couldn't tell if she was talking just about the mosquitoes.

Mickie could see the sun falling lower on the horizon and she new their little time on paradise was almost over and she felt a small pang of regret as she picked up a handful of sand and watched it slide through her fingers back on to the beach. It was so easy to sit here with Randy and not care about engine proficiency, crew welfare, damm enemy ships, out here in the calm she could almost believe she was home and she close her eyes and thought about the little beach house she had rented out last year and thought just how similar this place was.

"Penny for them?" Randy said as Mickie sighed heavily and turned to look at her first officer.

"Just thinking of home." She said honestly, she was to exhausted to play the stoic Captain any more and Randy gave her a sad smile in understanding.

"do you think we should gather the troops we only have half a hour before the D-Ex comes back." Randy said glancing at his watch but Mickie was already shaking her head.

"No let them have as long as they can here, I have a feeling it's going to have to hold us for a while." Mickie replied as her radio chirped and she frowned in response.

"Captain James it's Dr Borne do you read me." Evan's voice came over the radio and Mickie was already snapping back to reality, the Dr sounded panicked, he had not been off the ship all day because he was still treating the more seriously injured from the storm.

"Go ahead Dr what can I do for you?" Mickie said keeping her voice level this could be something very minor and he was just over reacting.

"Captain thank god, look we need to get you guys back now, almost the entire ship has come down with some form of illness and I have no idea what it is." Mickie's face fell, her heart felt like it was going to stop beating altogether and her hands clenched on to her radio.

"Maybe we should stay here Dr if we come back we may get infected as well." Randy said as Mickie was still trying to process the news.

"Not a good idea Commander, whatever this is came from that Island, there is nothing on board Legacy that could have done this." Evan said quickly adding that Lieutenant Rhodes was already on his way, as he had yet to be effected by this illness but no one as yet seemed immune.

"Get everyone together Randy, we need to get back now." Mickie said getting up quickly and suddenly un freezing right in front of his eyes became the Captain once more. He was sad to see the woman he had been sharing a beach with only moments ago vanish but right now they needed her to be the Captain and he wasn't going to wish she were someone else for all the tea in China.

Getting to the Legacy took five minutes but Mickie had been tapping her foot or clicking her tongue all the way across. Normally she would pace her bridge or the ready room but here in this cramped space she had little she could do to alleviate the sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. As they docked no one got in the Captain's way as she rushed out of the doors and headed straight for the medical bay.

"How bad is it Cody?" Randy asked as they were the last to get off, everyone had been ordered to duty stations and only himself, Cody and the two rebels were left in the docking bay.

"It's bad, no one has died yet but they are pretty sick, I left Ted on the bridge but there is no one up there, all of them have gone to see the Dr and Ted was not looking to good when I left." Cody said as they made their way to the bridge followed by John and Jeff.

"What should we do?" John finally said as they reached the last flight of stairs. Randy pondered the question for a minute. He knew Mickie would not want them too close to the ships system but being this low on staff she may not have a choice, but that would be her choice to make. An idea suddenly hit him and he put his hand on John's shoulder.

"How are you with fixing lifts?"

Mickie raced into the Medical bay, all the beds were full of sick people and they all looked pretty ill. The room smelt of stale sick and Mickie had to hold back the urge to gag herself.

"Report Dr." Mickie snapped as she spotted him at John Morrison's bed side. Mickie walked up to the pair and offered her operations Ensign a smile and a squeeze of his hand which was cold and clammy.

"Not much more than what I said over the radio, in the last few hours people started getting ill, vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach cramps, fever and in some cases turning to deliriousness. I have been giving them anti vials' but they seem to have little effect." Evan said as he checked John's Vitals and did not like what he saw.

"This could be air borne but I think it more likely something they ate or something they drank." He said as Mickie followed him giving his two nurses instructions and both women went off to do as he asked.

"How do you know it came from the Island?" Mickie said slightly rounding on him and folding her arms in front of her.

"I don't, but no one who didn't leave this ship has gotten sick, that and Legacy has been like a hermetically sealed container for four days, other you and Mr Rhodes no one has left this ship, you and Mr Rhodes are fine and I would have expected to see this show up earlier if it was your trip away that could have caused this." Evan said giving her a similar pose and not backing down from his Captain this time.

"Ok ok let me know what I can do to help Dr, I want a cure as soon as possible, we can not operate this ship on this amount of personnel, and if the UAN finds us, we won't need to worry about getting them out of their sick beds because they will be floating in the Pacific." Mickie said placing her hand on Evans shoulder to soften the blow.

"I am counting on you Doc." Mickie said as she turned round and almost walked into a very green looking Ted Debasie.

"Ted oh my come sit down." Mickie said taking Ted by the elbow and leading him over to a chair as all the beds were full.

"We are going to have to get another room cleared so we can get some more beds." Evan said as he pushed a stand out of the way and pulled a fold down bed out. Laying Ted on it Mickie looked down at him with scared eyes as Ted's consciousness swam in and out.

"Mickie?" He said grabbing hold of her hand and squeezing it just a little bit to tightly.

"Its me Ted." She said trying to release his grip on her hand.

"Can't see you properly it hurts my eyes."

"What does?"

"The light." Ted said finally as he slipped back in to an unrest full sleep as Evan came back over.

"Looks like we can add photo sensitivity to the list of symptoms." He said as he put Ted on a drip to combat the dehydration.

"Find that cure Doc and quickly please." Mickie said as she left the medical bay fighting the tears back as there was nothing more she could do down there for crew.

Mickie walked on to the bridge in a kind of haze, only Randy and Cody were there and the place was eerily silent. She walked to her chair without saying anything and she sat down with a plop. Randy was shocked by her manor. It was not like her to show this kind of emotion not in front of her crew anyway. Ok so it was just himself and Cody but the young Lieutenant was giving Randy worried looks over his shoulder.

"Captain?" Randy questioned her in his most professional voice he could and that seemed to rouse her somewhat.

"Yes Commander?"

"Your orders Ma'am?" He said as if she should have known that.

"I guess we wait, I do not want to risk infecting any one else and for the moment we have it contained and no one has died." Mickie said almost as if she was giving herself a pep talk.

"Aye Ma'am?" Randy said tapping his fingers on his chair as Cody swivelled round to face them. There really was nothing they could do from up here now except wait and Randy didn't know what to do with himself and from the looks of it neither did Cody.

"Maybe you guys should try and get some sleep, there is nothing to do around here and we can't move this ship until this is all over." Mickie said as Cody stood up and walked over to the lift and climbed aboard.

"The lift is working?" Mickie said taken away from her dark thoughts for a second as she watched the doors close and Cody descend to the lower decks.

"Yeah I had John and Jeff fix it they were pretty good at it once I showed them the basic tools and relays." Randy said glad he was distracting her if only for a moment.

"You should go too, can't have my first officer falling asleep on the job now can I." Mickie offered him a smile and Randy couldn't help but notice the slight redness that there was from where she had obviously been swiping away tears before she had gotten to the bridge.

"I think I might stay for a while." He said as Mickie stood up and walked into her ready room.

"As you wish Commander, don't stay up all night though." She said as she opened her door and walked into the small office and closed the world out behind her.

Mickie had poured herself a coffee, she had caught up with the Dr over the radio who was sounding strained but more confident. John and Jeff had gone down to help him and they seemed familiar with the disease and also seemed immune so the Dr was making progress. Mickie had shut off the comm. Line and placed her arms on the desk and rested her head down upon them.

Waking up with a slow yawn Mickie did not realise she had fallen asleep at all, glancing over to the clock on the wall she saw it was 2a.m and she shot off her chair. Reaching out and pulling her door open she strode on to her deserted bridge, she had nearly made it to the lift when she spotted a lone figure in the command chair. He was slumped over to one side and the star light shining on his face was making him look unearthly pale. Mickie placed her hand on her mouth as she approached him and did not see any movement from his breathing. Randy Orton's arm was dangling over the arm rest of his chair and Mickie watched as the hand stayed motionless as she took a final step closer until she could see his face.

Ok ok I am bad but I hope this has you clamouring for more. As always I am happy to oblige requests, you wanted more Mickie/Randy you got it. I am sorry though I couldn't let them live in piece for to long and you should know by now I kind of like putting my characters in jeopardy.

As always comments and reviews are greatly appreciated and if you have any requests I will do my best to accommodate you. Thank you for reading and keep an eye out for the next chapter.


	12. A game of trust

Well I am back once more, sorry to leave it where I did. (Actually I'm not ) then leave it for a few days but I had to go to work and earn some pennies.

A game of trust

Mickie was cared to reach out and touch him, but on the other hand she was more scared not to, reaching forward with a shaking hand she placed it on Randy's shoulder.

"Shit Captain." Randy said jumping up from the chair but almost collapsing back down on to it as his shaky legs protested at the sudden upright position.

"Damm it Randy you scared the hell out of me." Mickie said clutching her hands to her hammering heart. She stopped and looked down a t Randy's pale and sweaty face, moving her hand forward once more she pressed the back of it against randy's forehead and felt his skin burning under her touch.

"You have a fever we need to get you to the Doc." Mickie said coming round to the front of his chair and encouraging him to put his arm around her shoulder as she helped him off the seat.

Randy grunted with the effort of moving his aching body. He couldn't believe that it had only been a few hours ago he was sitting on a beach feeling on top of the world, now he felt like crap.

"Come on Randy." Mickie said as she helped him into the lift and lent him against the wall while she pushed the button for deck 5. She was panting slightly with having to support his weight but there was no one else around at the moment that could have helped her. She looked at randy's slumped form and let out a sigh remembering how she had felt in the moment she saw him slumped in the chair.

Quickly standing up straight she pushed the thoughts out of her head, as the doors for the lift opened. There was a lot of activity on the deck, healthy people were helping with the sick and the Dr was flitting from patient to patient.

"I need some help over here" Mickie called as she hauled Randy out of the lift he was barely conscious now and he was crushing her.

John Cena saw them and came rushing over, supporting Randy on the other side they managed to get him into one of the empty beds. Mickie noticed that there were now two wards as one of the storage compartments had been cleaned out and made in to a temporary infirmary.

"Doc have you made any progress?" Mickie asked as Evan came over and examined Randy.

"Not yet I have far more patients than I can deal with and I am running out of healthy people." He said snapping his head round to find a drip stand and he pushed past Mickie and grabbed one.

"Only my staff and our two newest recruits, I guess you can include yourself in that too." Evan said looking at her closely but not seeing any sign of the disease.

"Is there anything I can do Dr?" Mickie said looking down at Randy who had fallen into an uncomfortable sleep.

"Yes you could go and see if Mr Rhodes is ok, he was the only other member of the crew not to have these symptoms, if he is ok then I might be able to find out what is causing this, if he isn't then he really should be here." Evan said not looking at Mickie but she caught his meaning fairly quickly.

"I will go now Dr, John would you accompany me, if Mr Rhodes is unwell I may need your assistance." She said looking to the large man on her left and he gave her a smile.

"Sure if the Doc can spare me?" He said looking at Evan, but the Dr had moved on to another patient. Mickie was anxious to get out of the Medical bay, she hated them at the best of times and right now it was far from the best of times.

"Come on Mr Cena, lets see if our helm's man is still with us." With that Mickie took off along the hall and without a look back to see if John was following her she pushed the door open for the stairs.

John shook his head, it was incredible how this woman acted, at first he had mistook her bravery for arrogance and her determination for brashness. Now as he watched her stride up the stairs he couldn't help but admire her. Her world had just fallen down around her ears, yet she was still able to make good decisions that were keeping her crew alive and out of danger.

John strode up alongside Mickie as they walked into the deck that Cody's cabin was located on and John found himself looking down at the petite woman and unashamedly stared at her. Mickie had not noticed her companions' scrutiny, she had been too worried about what they might find at Cody's cabin. It was the same feeling that had struck her when she had found Randy. The desire to back away to run and avoid the hurt, yet the overwhelming need to know, to help. Stopping abruptly Mickie stood in front of Cody's door, it took John a few seconds to realise why they had stopped as Mickie hesitated with her closed fist poised at the door.

Taking a deep breath Mickie knocked soundly on the door and they both held their breath listening and waiting for a reply.

For a second there was nothing, John did not hesitate he called out though the closed door.

"Hey Mr Rhodes are you awake?" He virtually shouted and Mickie winced but she realised there was no one else they could possibly wake up.

"What, hold on." Cody's sleepy voice came back though the door as Mickie heard rustling and then a loud thump.

"Ouch!" Cody let out as his foot connected with his desk chair.

"Mr Rhodes don't hurry yourself, I just came to check on you." Mickie called though the door a slight smile on her face as she could tell that Cody was just fine.

"Oh shit, umm I mean, sorry Captain just coming."

Mickie did not attempt to hide her smile this time and John grinned back down at her and was surprised by just how beautiful this woman was when she smiled.

Cody opened the door a second later but only enough so he could poke his head out, in his just woken up and confused state he had neglected to put any clothes on and was now standing in front of his Captain in just his boxers.

"Excuse me Ma'am, I am sorry for not being up I did not realise the time." Cody said sure he had slept though something important as Mickie was now at his door.

"At ease Lieutenant, you have done nothing wrong, the Dr sent me, it seems that you and I are the only two members of Legacy's crew not to have come down with this illness and the Doc wants to run some tests." Mickie explained as Cody's body visibly relaxed and he smiled at her.

"No problem Captain, permission to get dressed." He grinned shyly at her and Mickie inclined her head trying to keep the smirk off her face and failing.

"Granted, it is far too early in the morning for all that." She said and watched as her young helm's officer turned beet red.

"That was cruel." John said once Cody had shut the door and Mickie turned to him one eyebrow arched.

"Don't know me very well yet do you?" She said and she quickly realised they were flirting slightly. John was looking down at her in the dim light, as small smile playing at his lips and his body tilted towards hers.

Mickie was doing nothing to discourage his actions but she was unsure as to whether she wanted them either.

"You have surprised me Captain, I admire your grit." John said taking a step closer to Mickie and placing a hand high on her arm and giving her a small squeeze.

"Thank you Mr Cena, I know you have had a hard life, I am willing to try and help you." Mickie said trying not to pull away from John's touch but feeling suddenly uncomfortable.

"Good because I think you could really be our ace in the hole." He said but before she had chance to reply he continued.

"But they will want you gone you know you are a real threat to them now, for ever ship you destroy our cause gains momentum and not just on the oceans but in the towns and the country. I spread the news about you when we first met, every rebel knows of this ship, I think you and I could finally take down the UAN once and for all."

John had gotten even closer to Mickie he was almost whispering in her ear as if the words he were saying could get over heard and stopped from ever becoming true. Mickie shuddered at the feeling of his breath on her ear but it wasn't and entirely unpleasant feeling, and the things he was saying could stir the soul.

"Mr Cena…" But Mickie could not finish her sentence as a fully dressed Cody Rhodes stepped out of his cabin and watched as John took a step back from Mickie and smiled at Cody.

"Ready?" Mickie asked quickly in her most I am the Captain voice and that got Cody's attention and he nodded in the affirmative.

Both Cody and Mickie had been put though a barrage of tests, Mickie had quickly forgotten about her little encounter with John Cena earlier as Evan looked at their test results.

"Roll up your sleeves and trousers please." Evan said directed at both of them and giving each other curious looks they did as asked. Evan got a closer look at both of them and then stood up and pursed his lips.

"Mosquitoes, you two have no bites on you." He said and Mickie nodded as she realised she had not been bitten, just like Randy had said.

"No they always seem to leave me alone." Cody said shrugging his shoulders.

"Its why neither of you have gotten sick, I have been going about this the wrong way, I have been looking for some strange tropical disease when it has been right under my nose the whole time." Mickie was getting impatient with Evans ramblings as she stood from her bed.

"What is it Dr Borne and more to the point can you cure it?" She asked a frown appearing on her face and Evan looked at her.

"Sorry Captain, they all have the onset of Malaria, probably a slightly different staring than we are used to but just as simple to treat. I need to give them a cause of quinine, we have some on board but not enough to treat everyone." He said as he walked over to his office and he was followed by Mickie and Cody.

"How much do you have Doc? How quickly will we need more?" Mickie said glancing at Ted then Randy who were tossing and turning on their beds as the fever gripped them.

"I can treat all of them with a single dose and hopefully it will keep them alive a couple more days, after that people will start dying, or I can treat half of them and give them a good chance of survival in the long term, but the other half might die." Evan said as Mickie looked into his eyes and lifted her chin. She was not going to loose anybody.

"Treat them all doc I will get some more drug for you, Mr Rhodes your with me." Mickie strode out of sick bay almost straight into Melina who was looking stiff but not ill.

"Captain, I have been looking for you, my arm maybe broken Ma'am but I can still help." She said as Mickie looked around the medical bay.

"Help here, the Doc needs you more than I do, plus it means I can take John so he can guide us." Mickie said placing her hand on Melina's shoulder and giving her a wide smile.

"Aye Ma'am." She said Melina didn't look too happy but she knew she would be useless on the bridge if the ship came under any kind of attack and the woman nodded and disappeared into the infirmary.

"Mr Cena will you join us on the bridge." Mickie called over to John who knew it wasn't a question and he nodded quickly to Jeff who smiled at his old friend as he jogged over to join Mickie and Cody.

Exiting the lift and stepping out on to the bridge Cody went straight for the helm, whilst John went and stood at the tactical station. Mickie walked up to her chair and sat down.

"Mr Rhodes bring up the anchor and take her out." Mickie said as the pulley system on the anchor roared to life and the engines accompanied it in some kind of strange symphony. Mickie had never heard anything so lovely though and she turned to John and caught his eye while he was still looking at the new and strange displays in front of him.

"Get us there Mr Cena, or your ideas for a victory in this war will be short lived."

"Aye Ma'am." He replied knowing that Mickie was not threatening him just stating the truth.

"All ahead full Mr Rhodes we do not have time to view the scenery today I am afraid." Mickie said as soon as all she could see in front of her was open water and Cody didn't need asking twice he hit his controls and the Legacy pushed forward leaving a large bow wave in its wake.

"How often are these waters patrolled Mr Cena?" Mickie asked as she checked her own read outs and finding no other ships on radar.

"Enough to remain cautious Captain, but that storm would have slowed them down, I think if they were pursuing us we would have a good half a day's head start on them." John said as Mickie turned to look at him briefly but her gaze quickly flitted away and back out of the window.

Mickie was not feeling guilty as such for their moment earlier in the corridor, no she did not even know what that had been exactly, but she was feeling like she needed to distance herself somewhat from the man who now stood at her oldest friends' station. Thinking briefly of Ted made Mickie re focus, there was a job to be done and this time she had a decline. Her crew were depending on her this time not just in the hope of getting them home but for there very lives. Mickie sat stiffly in her chair, she knew the next few hours would be the longest of her life.

"Any enemy ships detected Mr Cena?" Mickie said as she caught the first glimpse of land she had seen in the last six hours.

"Nothing on long range scanners, the port ahead of us looks almost deserted." John said as he glanced down at the display and noted the time was almost midnight and he was hardly surprised at the dock desertion.

"Do you think you can raise any body Mr Cena?" Mickie said finally standing up and coning to rest on the console in front of John and he cold see the dark circles under her eyes and he could see them reflected in his own face.

"I'll see what I can do Captain." John said as Mickie came over and placed her hand on Cody's shoulder and he steered the Legacy in to the harbour slowly almost as if he were afraid to hit a mine.

"Good Mr Rhodes, no need to rush." Mickie said as she glanced from one end of the harbour to the other but saw almost no movement.

"Ma'am does the expression to good to be true come to mind." Cody asked looking back over his shoulder briefly as they came past a small ship that looked like it was for food transport.

Mickie did not reply she simply patted his shoulder and went and sat back down. Mickie did not like the quite, she was not the type of woman to creep up somewhere rush in like a scared little mouse and sneak back off down her hole again, but she knew this was the only way she was going to get this done. John had said that the Japanese were always happy to do business with the rebels, they could see an advantage in change and profit in war, but they were a dangerous bunch not to be trusted, if caught they would sing like canaries and give the UAN any information they had. They also drove a hard bargain and Mickie had to decide just how much she was going to offer for the quinine. She knew all her diplomatic skills would be required in these negotiations and she knew john would be the best person to stand by her side on this one. Fortunately she did not have to worry about Randy fussing over her and throwing John death glares, but she decided she would rather have is over protectiveness right now than have him in the infirmary fighting for his life.

"John to Chan, can you here me." John almost whispered into the radio hoping to get hold of his contact making the minimal disturbance.

There was a pause, and just static John was holding his breath and Mickie could almost small the electricity in the air as they waited for and answer.

"Yes John I am here, you are very late old friend." The man said in just as low a whisper but John finally exhaled.

"I know Chan, but I have brought my new friends from Legacy and we have business to discuss." John said knowing it was time to get right down to business and Mickie had come up on to his level and stood next to him.

"The Captain wishes to trade with you and she would request a meeting as soon as possible." Mickie nodded her approval as there was once again silence.

"We look forward to your arrival, may I suggest you moor your ship in the usual area." Chan said a slight hint of a smile in his voice and John caught the meaning straight away.

"Indeed, we shall see you in one hour." John said and disconnected the communication.

"Usual area?" Mickie questioned with a raised eyebrow and John just gave her a smile.

"You will see."

Mickie nodded her approval as John directed them to a large cave that was plenty big enough to accommodate Legacy. Mickie disliked the thought of leaving her ship with so few able bodies on board but seeing the cave made her feel somewhat better. Contacting the medical bay and getting Melina she inform her that they were about to disembark and to be ready to leave in a moments notice even if it was without them.

"Aye ma'am, but you realise even if we escape, without that medication we are doomed anyway." Melina said and Mickie had to acknowledge her statement for what it was, the truth.

"Ready when you are Mr Cena." Mickie said as she followed him out on to the gangway setting foot down on solid ground she looked about and saw a lone figure at the end of the narrow walk way that lead from her ship inside the cave.

The walls were damp to the touch and the smelt faintly of sale water and Mickie had to admire the beauty that this obviously natural cave had carved out for itself. As they approached the man Mickie noticed he was small barely taller than her and he bowed low as they came to a halt in fount of him. John bowed in reply and Mickie decided to follow suit.

"Come, we have been eagerly awaiting your arrival." Chan said pulling on Mickie's sleeve and she had no choice but to follow him through a narrower passage way and into a small corridor with a network of rooms.

Mickie did not have time to think about the route, there were so many twists and turns that she gave up and just followed Chan at his brisk pace.

"Here." He finally said stopping abruptly causing John to crash into Mickie's back and he had to wrap his arms around her to stop her from falling over.

"Sorry." He whispered as he let her go and Mickie gave him a crocked smile. Chan had pushed open the door and Mickie observed three men sitting around the oval shaped table, there were three seats left empty and Mickie supposed they were for them.

"Gentlemen." Mickie said offering her hand and the three men stood up and bowed to her. John shrugged his shoulders and Mickie decided just to bow back once more and the three men sat back down and Chan followed suite.

John pulled out Mickie's chair and she took it holding the grimace off her face and continued smiling at the men opposite her. John sat next to her quickly and the talks began at once.

"Captain James, your reputation proceeds you, I have to say I was expecting someone much taller." The man in the middle said, he had an angular face and hard eyes and Mickie tried not to dislike him because of his seedy appearance.

"Sorry to disappoint you, as you must know we are being pursued by the UAN, we do not want to put you in danger and we wish to conduct our business as swiftly as possible." Mickie said she did not want them to know just how much they needed this quinine.

"Indeed Captain there is a substantial bounty on your head, we are taking a risk here by not turning you over to the UAN, you and your ship." The man said as she glance at John whose expression had gone stony.

"Now if your going to make threats I think we will just leave." John spoke up and Mickie gripped his arm under the table, but she let him continue, he had much more experience in dealing with these people and Mickie saw the man shift uncomfortably in his chair at the proposition of their trading ending before it had began.

"I said we would not turn you in, we hope that further trade with you would be more profitable." The man on the left said quickly, he was much rounder of face and had rather small eyes, but his smile was genuine.

"We need food and medical supplies." Mickie said handing them over a list she had earlier drawn up with the Dr's assistance. The three Japanese men looked the list over each nodding their heads.

"We can do this, what do you offer in return?" The narrow faced man said eventually, and Mickie tried to keep her expression neutral.

"We can offer, building materials, rare alloys, lighter and stronger than anything you have." Mickie said and the men looked hopeful but not too impressed.

"We can show you medical treatments for diseases." She added quickly as the men got into another huddle and spoke amongst them selves. Mickie felt Johns hand on her arm under the table as she sat ridged like she was in front of a board of Admirals.

"We like your offer, but we are also interested in acquiring some of your weapons."

Mickie was ready for this and she knew just what she had to say.

"Our weapons are non negotiable, we need all of our weapons and they are integrated into the ships systems, I could not give you one even if I wanted to." It was not the complete truth but she knew it would have to do, there was no way she was going to give anyone from this world a heat seeking nuclear war head. Even if it was only minimum yield they could still blow up a small Island.

"It is a shame, but it was expected. We will trade for the Medical knowledge and the metals." The rounded face man said as they stood up and once more bowed low and Mickie made sure she met his gaze and gave him a smile.

"Arrange the transfer in one hour." Chan was instructed and the man turned to them and gave John and Mickie all the details they would need.

Mickie sat on her bridge, she was looking out once more at the ocean bathed in sun light. It had been several hours after her meeting with the Japanese representatives and she had been all around the ship helping to unload things and make sure the Dr had all the supplies he needed. Mickie had instructed him to start treatment immediately and he had not even stopped as he collected the cases of the drug.

Ted had returned only half an hour ago, and although he still looked a little pale, he said he had enough of sleeping. Mickie Cody and John had had no sleep in almost twenty four hours and the Dr was going on for almost forty eight. The sick members of the crew were starting to regain their strength one by one and Mickie was glad she could at least relive Cody and John as they both looked ready to pass out. John threw her a smile as he left and she wondered briefly for a moment about him. He was handsome, he had proved himself useful and loyal, and he was not part of this crew, not under her direct chair of command and not strictly off limits according to the US Naval conduct manual. Mickie sighed with boned tiredness as the lift doors opened and out stepped her first officer, looking well rested and even more perfect than she remember him to be.

Mickie stood up and smiled at him but he saw her face and knew the only thing his Captain needed was sleep he came up to her and spoke softly.

"Bed Captain, before you fall over." Mickie was too tired to argue and she left him in charge of the bridge and Ted knew where they were going. Hitting the button for her deck she wonder why she ever thought she could avoid falling for her first officer, but the thought was in passing as the lift doors opened and she made it to her cabin where she fell on to the bed fully clothed and fell in to a deep sleep.

Oh love triangle I feel, what will Mickie do now? I hope you enjoyed this rather lengthy chapter, I thought about splitting it in two, but I wasn't feeling that mean, is it better longer I guess so but if you like them short sharp and to the point let me know and I can change it up a bit.

As ever feedback is appreciated and I am always looking for inspiration or suggestions.

Thank you for reading.


	13. Piece by piece

First a quick note, I have to apologise for all my typing errors, they annoy me as much as I am sure they annoy you. However in my defence I have very little time to write and I like to update as regular as possible so please forgive my wandering fingers.

Grovelling over

Piece by piece

"Hard to port Mr Rhodes, Ted fire at will!" Mickie shouted as Legacy took another hit from the UAN vessel.

"Aye Captain, this guy is fast." Ted said checking to see if he had weapons lock but it was proving difficult.

"All a head full lets see if this works." Mickie said leaning forward in her chair and watching the smaller ship circle around them.

"Mr Rhodes be prepared to stop on my command."

Cody held his hands over the controls, he had no idea what the Captain was up to but she had not let them down so far.

"Mickie we have to watch our flank." Randy said as he saw the other ship perusing them with an obvious weapons lock on their bow.

"I know Mr Orton, but short of nuking them we are running out of options." She replied with barely a glance at him.

The ship rocked once more as a torpedo skimmed their outer hull and Mickie rocked to the side her hair falling out of the bull dog clip she had pinned it up in that morning as she watched Randy collide with the arm of his chair.

"We have a hull fracture on deck 14, repair crews are responding." John Morrison said from his station at oops as he held on to his desk as another wave rocked the ship.

"Get down their Mr orison and see if you can help, before that fracture becomes a breach we are short one engineer." Mickie said glancing back at him before she turned back to her screen and watched as the other ship drew closer to them.

"Now Cody!" Mickie said and Cody pulled the ship to a complete stop.

"Engines full reverse!" Mickie was standing now as she watched the other ship now back in front of them and before they could react Mickie gave Ted a nod and he fired a torpedo.

"Direct hit they are dead in the water Ma'am." Ted confirmed what her eyes had seen and she sat back down in her chair and crossed her legs.

"All ahead full Mr Rhodes take us ten kilometres out and then throttle back." Mickie said standing once more and headed straight for her ready room.

It had been four days since they had left Japan and the crew were tired but all had survived the malaria that had swept the ship and for all intense and purposes they were fine. The UAN however had other plans for them. Every day sometimes twice a day one of their ships would come and attack them. They had all been small quick ships, none of which could do any real damage to Legacy but they attacks had drained them of supplies, fuel and crew moral was at an all time low.

Mickie looked at her almost empty coffee pot and sighed, she was also low on coffee, and while it was not a necessity she sure could do with one right now. Giving in and pouring the last of the aromatic drink into her cup she sat down behind her desk and looked at the stacks of reports that had began to build up. Taking the first one she scanned it and decided it could wait, she picked up the next but her thoughts were wondering.

Why were they attacking like this, they had to know that one of those ships were no match for Legacy, they were like Piranha, nibbling at the large body of their prey piece by piece. Maybe that was it, they were trying to wear them down, hope they will run out of fuel or weapons, or both then send in one of the big ships to finish the job. There was no way Mickie was going to let that happen, they had plenty of food and weapons, repairs were proving difficult as they had traded quite a lot of there spare building materials for the quinine, but fuel was a small problem once more, however they were headed towards Hawaii now and they had enough to last at least two more days.

Mickie was about to sign off on Melina's request for light duty when there was a knock at the door.

"Come" she called out, she was not in the mood for company right now and she had escaped to her ready room to be alone, but ships business never stopped around here.

"Captain Engineering reports that the hull fracture has been sealed but we could do with some extra titanium, especially if we are going to keep facing these attacks."

There was something in Randy tone, almost an accusation and Mickie's hackles went up almost immediately. She took a deep breath she knew that neither her nor Randy had gotten much more than five hours sleep a night and constantly been on red alert for day, but she did not need him throwing jibs at her.

"Noted Commander, any thing else?" She asked without looking at him hoping her would take the hint.

"Actually there is Captain, you must have noticed the crews tiredness and not only that but the ship can't go on taking this much of a pounding, something is going to give. These UAN are nibbling at us like a pack of rats." Randy said coming closer to her and she finally looked at him with tired eyes. He could still see the fire in them but it had dulled somewhat over the last few days.

"Funny I was just thinking of them as Piranha, I know the crew is tired Commander but we have no choice we have to make it to Hawaii and re fuel if we don't we could end up floating out here." She said thinking that was the end of the discussion but Randy had other plans.

" I know Captain we all do, but there has to be a way of stopping them from attacking us, maybe make a deal, some kind of compromise, for all our sakes, we cant go on like this indefinitely."

Mickie was shocked at his suggestion, she couldn't believe the hard and fast solider was actually suggesting to her that she capitulate with these people, it went against everything that she believed in. ok their circumstances were a little out of the ordinary but those principals had never let her down before and she wasn't about to give up on them now.

"It is just you that thinks this commander or are you acting on behalf of the crew?" She asked cautiously, she was not as close to her crew as Randy was for obvious reasons and she often wondered what their thoughts about her were.

"There is a consensus that we should explore other options." Randy said quietly, he could see that her walls had gone up again and he didn't want her to pull away from him anymore than she already had.

"I see, I guess I am alone then. Dismissed Commander." Mickie said in a low voice as she sat back down in her chair. When Randy made no move to go Mickie slowly raised her eyes and levelled them at Randy. Deep brown met icy blue and Randy swallowed a lump that appeared in his throat.

"I'm sure you have not forgotten Mr Orton, that dismissed is Navel talk for get out." Mickie bit out finally and Randy had no choice but to back out of the room and close the door behind him.

Walking towards his chair he looked at Ted and gave him a shrug of the shoulders and went over to his station.

"She is very tired, but also very stubborn, I don't know what else to say to her, she is intent on taking us to Hawaii come hell or high water." Randy said quietly to Ted as Ted appeared to be carrying on with his work.

"She is the Captain it is ultimately her decision, her unconventional leadership qualities are one of her strongest points as a Captain, however they are also her biggest weakness, Mickie James is no body fool and if you try and out flank her she will respond with the cold aloofness that she talks to Russian diplomats with. Maybe you or even I should try a different approach. I will give her half an hour, enough time to finish that cup of coffee I am sure she is nursing right now." Ted said giving Randy a small smile and Randy was impressed at this mans insight into their Captain. He knew they had known each other along time but he did not realise quite how well Ted had gotten to know her. A little flash of envy crossed his thoughts but he pushed it away and smiled back at Ted.

"Do your worst."

"Captain to the bridge" Randy called over the radio as another UAN ship came up on their radar. Ted had not been able to speak to Mickie as a minor glitch in his scanners had come up and kept him from his talk with her.

Almost before Randy had finished his sentence her door opened and she was baking for a report.

"One ship Captain just like before, it's headed on and intercept course, will be within weapons rage in five minutes." John said as he looked at his readouts and made sure Mickie had all the information she needed. John was not about to get himself reprimanded, Mickie was a fair Captain but the last few days had taken their toll on them and she had a short fuse at the moment.

"Ok Mr Rhodes come about I am not giving this one a chance to get off a shot." She barked sitting ridged in her chair and staring at her consol.

"Captain?" Randy questioned she had at every other encounter at least tried to talk to them, but he guessed she was done with niceties.

"They want to fight dirty Commander, then I am fully versed in mud raking." She said with a grin that didn't reach her eyes. Randy turned his attention to Cody who was tapping his controls and steering Legacy towards the enemy ship. Cody did not want to look behind him, he could here the anger in his command teams voices and he had no intention of getting in the middle of it. He had herd rumours that they were not exactly seeing eye to eye now and he had witness some of that tension today.

Bringing the legacy around he saw on his displays and in the windows the UAN ship looming large in his field of vision.

"This ship is larger Captain, not as fast but it looks like then have a few missiles on board." Ted said as the ship drew closer and he was able to scan it.

"Great, Mr Debasie launch a heat seeking Missile aim for their weapons array." Mickie said tapping on her monitor and glancing out of her window.

"Aye Ma'am." Ted said without a hint of disobedience in his voice as he found his target lock and launched the missile.

Mickie watched the missile progress on her screen, she saw the other ship try to evade it but it was too late, they had disabled their weapons without so much as a scratch to Legacy.

"Good work people Mr Rhodes resume course for Hawaii, all ahead…" Mickie did not get time to finish her sentence as weapons fire hit Legacy.

"Report!" she yelled as she picked herself up off the floor, touching her cheek carefully and pulling back a bloody finger.

"There was a second ship, the first must have been a decoy." John said as the second ship just appeared on his radar and fired at them almost immediately.

"They know." Mickie said to herself, but Randy over heard her and he looked at her quizzically.

"Know what Captain?"

"That we wont destroy them, that they can sit in front of us and all we are going to do is disable them, we left the door open Commander, now we have to close it." She said as another volley of weapons fire struck Legacy and rocked the ship.

"Hard to Starboard Mr Rhodes, fire aft torpedoes aim for their engines." Mickie said as her vision swam slightly and she could feel the sticky blood make it way down her cheek.

"Firing torpedoes." Ted said as he found weapons lock and watched as they hit the other ship. The second ship rocked with the impact and Ted could see a large hole in their side.

"Direct hit they are dead in the water." John said as the first ship moved in closer although they had no weapons Mickie told Ted to keep a close eye on them.

"When they move next to the other ship send in a torpedo and take them down." Mickie said and Ted had to stop his hand from shaking over the controls.

"Are you sure Mickie?" Ted said there was only so far he could let her go with this before he had to get her to question herself.

"No Mr Debasie, but we can't keep letting them get away, they are using it against us." Mickie voice was loud but had lost its harshness and Ted knew she was ultimately right.

"Take out the one with no engine leave the other one to go tell their friends." Mickie finally said knowing there was no need in taking down both ships and letting one go to tell the tale could prove useful.

Ted did not hesitate this time he fired on the floating ship and took out most of the lower decks, the ship began to sink into the ocean and they all watched as life boast were launched and the second ship came about to collect their drifting colleagues.

Mickie realised that she had probably just watched people die and she couldn't help but wonder if this fight had stated to take her piece by piece as well.

Mickie had gathered her senior staff together in the meeting room and she had also asked John Cena to join them. The relief bridge crew were on duty and were instructed to contact them the moment anything happened. Mickie suspected that the UAN might leave them alone for the rest of the day though. It was a good thing though because Legacy had taken some damage in the last attack.

"Repair crews are fixing the coolant leak but it is going to take several hours before we can do more than limp across the ocean." Melina said and Mickie rested her palms on her desk hunching her shoulders and dipping her head.

"Ok so we crawl along for now, what about casualties?" she turned to the Doctor and he shook his head.

"Nothing major Captain, some burns some lacerations, the crew is in pretty good health."

"Finally some good news, what about weapons Ted?"

"We are low on missiles and we really don't have any way of replacing them, not with ones like ours any way, but torpedo supply's are good." He reported and Mickie nodded at him, the missile problem would have to wait and she turned to Randy who was not looking at her and seemed distracted.

"Commander?" She questioned trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.

"Sorry Captain I was thinking, well apart from the fuel as you know all other ships operations are normal, we have minor damage to the hull and our rudder has taken a blow but can be fixed as soon as we can dock." He said reeling off his report in a monotone which Mickie for once appreciated.

"Ok folks we get to Hawaii and re fuel and make repairs. John do you have any allies there? Maybe we can discuss a plan of attack or even a way to get us home." Mickie said, she had not thought about home in a few days as she had been avoiding the subject in favour of dealing with the latest crisis.

"Yeah Beth is there she has been looking at your problem, and knowing my sister she would have come up with something, as for an attack I don't know if we have enough ships for a full on assault, but we will see when we get there." John said looking at Mickie and giving her a warm smile which she returned.

"Dismissed everyone." Mickie said as her senior staff left the meeting room and she turned to the window and looked out as the sky darkened and the sea turned an inky black.

"Captain?" Mickie jumped at the voice and she span round to look at then man who had disturbed her from her thoughts.

"John you scared me half to death."

"Sorry Mickie I didn't mean to, I just wonder how you were faring, I have not seen you for a little while." He said moving closer to stand next to her and look out of the windows with her.

"I am ok, as far as anyone can be in a situation like this." She said looking up at him and John couldn't help but reach out and touch the cut on her cheek.

"That looks like it hurt."

"Not so much, can't even feel it now."

"You should let the Doc look at it before it scars." Mickie chuckled and reached out a hand and patted John's chest.

"Randy told me the same thing, maybe I want a scar, wear my war wound with pride you know." John looked down at her hand then back into her eyes. Mickie took her hand away quickly noticing the look and stood up straighter and gave him a curt nod.

"I should get back to the bridge, I will see you later Mr Cena." Mickie said as she turned she did not see the shadow disappear off in to the corridor and she headed for the lift.

She was surprised to find Randy already on the lift when she got there, the others had left the meeting several minutes ago and he should have been sat in his command chair by now.

"Mr Orton?" She made his name a question as he waved a report at her.

"Had to collect this from Mr Kingston, as he is acting chief now I wanted a full update on the engines." He said and Mickie accepted this and turned back to face the doors.

"Mickie." Randy said as the lift moved higher and he realised it was now or never.

"Yes Randy?" Mickie said the use of their first names not going un noticed by either person.

"I want you to know, that you will never be alone, no matter what, we may not agree all the time, but I am still your first officer and I will follow you to the end of the earth if I have to." Mickie looked at him and finally softened her expression.

"What about the end of the earth and beyond? I think we are well past that now Randy." She said a slight hit on humour in her voice.

"Give me a good ship and a star to steer her by." Randy said and the old reference sparked a glow in Mickie's eyes.

"Truer words have never been spoken Randy."

The lift doors opened and the command team strode on to the bride. Sitting in their respective chairs Cody noticed that there was a calmer edge to their demeanour and he relaxed in his seat once more enjoying the view of the stars.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, didn't think the UAN had forgotten about them did you. More action coming up in the next chapter and the John, Randy Mickie triangle intensifies.

As always feed back is wonderful and much appreciated if you have never reviewed before know that it is always worth it and you are bringing us authors a little joy for our hard, yet enjoyable work.

Thanks for reading.


	14. a brief interlude

No fancy authors note today if I don't get this chapter down quick it won't get done at all.

A brief interlude 

They had made it to Hawaii, the UAN had left them alone after the destruction of one of their ships.

John had called ahead to let them know they were coming and Beth had some encouraging news about how Legacy could return home.

Mickie had practically ran down the docking ramp followed by an exasperated Randy and led by a happy John Cena.

"Hey sis how's it going?" John said giving Beth a brief hug and allowing Mickie to shake her hand.

2So you said something about getting us home." Mickie said cutting to the chase and Beth had to smile at the woman's enthusiasm.

"Maybe it's a bit of a long shot and there is a lot of variables involved but I think it could work."

She said leading Mickie and Randy over to a small desk which had a map laid out on it. John stood next to Mickie leaning over her shoulder slightly and allowing the smell of her hair to fill his nostrils. Randy caught him briefly and scowled at him somewhat, all John did was smile at him and carried on with what he was doing.

"As you can see I think you almost had it right the first time, you echo location scanners plus the inferred caused some type of disruption in the barrier that keeps our two worlds apart, here at it weakest point on the Bermuda Triangle." Beth pointed to the co-ordinates that the Legacy had been at when they had come through.

"The only difference is was that then there was a ship bouncing the signals back, it created a feed back and an opening appeared, if the UAN ship had moved forward I believe it would have crossed over into your world instead of you into ours." Beth said looking pleased with what she had come up with but Mickie was looking crest fallen.

"Sorry Beth you have done well but, we now have a major problem, for us to go back we will have to wait for a ship to pass by on our side of the barrier, stop and allow us time to scan it with our sensors. All this without getting sunk by the UAN, forgive me but I don't exactly feel inspired." Mickie turned to Beth offered her a pat on the shoulder then walked away from their small group. John went to follow her but he was stopped by Randy's hand on his chest.

"Leave her alone for now a John, she has a lot to think about." Randy kept his voice soft but John heard the warning behind it and now was not the time for getting into that particular argument.

"Maybe we should go see how everyone is getting on." John said to Beth and Randy as they walked out in to the bright sunshine as they looked over at the Legacy docked at the filling station and bobbing gently in the small swells created by the breeze.

"This is so beautiful how come you don't create a base here?" ted said walking up to them as his duty shift was done and he was due some down time.

"Stay in one place too long and the UAN know where to find you and they come and snatch you up." Beth said looking at Ted who offered her a sad smile and placed his sun glasses over his eyes.

"Well I am going to enjoy it while I can." He said and sauntered off towards the beach.

"When do you think you will leave?" Beth asked Randy as John walked off to join Ted and hopefully spot Mickie on the way, but he wasn't about to tell Beth or Randy of his intentions.

"I don't know I guess that will be up to the Captain." Randy replied as the pair walked slowly along the dock.

"W have been here for almost a week, most time I have spent in one place for a while, it seems that the UAN have had trouble locating us, I think there is something in the rocks that are throwing off their sensors." Beth said as they stopped at the gang way and randy placed his foot on it.

"Could be, I should go now, its my turn to watch the bridge and I have no desire to be court marshalled." He said with a smile at the blonde woman who smiled back at him, but obviously was slightly disappointed at his leaving.

Just then Cody walked down the ramp nose stuck in his book and he almost got barrelled over by a purposeful Randy.

"Whoa Lieutenant, it is not safe practice to walk down a narrow gangplank with one's nose stuck in a book."

"Sorry sir" Cody stuttered slightly but Randy's face was warm and smiling.

"No problem Cody hey could you take Beth over there to the beach with you, her brother seems to have abandoned her." Randy said pointing to the retreating figure.

"No problem sir." Cody gave him a curt nod and ran to catch up with Beth who linked her arm through the young man's arm and disappeared over the dunes down towards the beach.

Randy had been sitting on the bridge now for two of his four hours shift and he was decidedly board. Ensign Jericho was sat at the helm and looked similarly board, swivelling his chair back and forth making Randy feel dizzy just watching him.

"Ensign are you trying to wear that chair out."

An alto voice came from behind Randy and Chris stopped his movements almost immediately.

"No ma'am." He snapped and turned his attention back to his controls.

"Hey, I thought you had another two hours." Randy said standing up as she joined him in the middle of the bridge.

"Yeah I did, but something was missing, I guess I missed the ship, John was great company but being unable to see her to make sure she is ok makes me antsy, you know?" Mickie said placing her hands on her hips and looking around her bridge.

"I guess so." Randy said watching as Mickie's face relaxed as she noted that everything was fine.

"When are we thinking of leaving?" Randy asked as Mickie sat down in her chair and crossed her legs activating her computer.

"As soon as the repairs are done, I don't want to stay in one place too long, especially here, we can't give away the rebels base location to the UAN." Mickie said a seriousness coming into her voice and Randy understood.

"I know we all need time to rest and we will get it, I plan to take Legacy to the island we used on the first night, it is close to the triangle, but not too close and it has managed to conceal us once I'm sure it will again and we can put the ship on a full days rest." Mickie said looking through the mapping charts they had already made and settling on a plan of action.

Just as Randy was about to reply the lift doors swooshed open and in strode Melina not looking to happy.

"Captain may I speak with you in private for a moment." It wasn't a request and Mickie was slightly angry at her chief engineer, but she sensed that what ever this was was very important as Melina had never shown her disrespect before. Attitude hot headedness and a quit wit, but never disrespect.

"My ready room Lieutenant." Mickie said standing up and joining the small Latino in her small office.

Mickie watched as Melina paced the small room holding her damaged arm with the other and glancing at Mickie.

"Melina calm down and tell me what is going on."

"I don't even know where to start, I don't want to think this, but there is no other explanation, I have gone over everything."

Mickie placed her hands on the woman's shoulders and stopped her pacing and her ramblings.

"What is going on?" Mickie said in her I'm the Captain voice and Melina snapped her head up.

"After the last attack our torpedoes were sabotaged, the firing mechanisms were burnt through in every bay, we wouldn't have been able to launch a thing and we would not have noticed until we even tried." Melina said looking Mickie directly in the eyes to let her Captain know that she wasn't kidding.

"How did you discover this, the torpedo bays were not due for a repair?" Mickie asked trying to keep calm for the sake of the shocked woman in front of her.

"Kofi went down their to retrieve some tools, he found the blow torch in one of the access tubes and thought it was odd. He called me down and we both checked to see if any one had been making repairs. Then we found the damage, it is likely someone interrupted them and he dropped the tool getting away." Melina said feeling slightly calmer now.

"Who would have access to those tubes?" Mickie asked she couldn't believe that someone on board would want to do this, they were putting their own lives at risk as well.

"Anyone, we have had so much going on down there with hull fractures and blown pipes that any one that can hold a hammer has been down there. But I don't know of anyone who had a reason to want to either." Melina added in a quite voice and Mickie placed her hand on Melina's shoulder.

"Neither can I Melina, can you fix the problem?" Mickie asked sitting own in her own chair and looking out of the view port for a second.

"Yes but it going to take a while, we will need to completely replace the firing re-lays fortunately we have spares on board, but it will take several hours." Melina said as a knock came at the door.

"Come" Mickie said as Randy poked his head in and smile at the women sitting there.

"I am going for lunch either of you two want anything?" randy asked and Mickie had to admire his thoughtfulness.

"No thank you Commander, but could you come and join us for a moment." Mickie said as Randy walked fully into the room and closed the door behind him.

Mickie filled Randy in on what Melina had told her and she watched as his face grew dark and angry at the prospect of a traitor on board.

"I can't believe it, who would do such a thing?" He said more to himself than either woman in the room, when a thought dawned on him.

"If they disabled the weapons after the last attack they must have know another one was coming, that the UAN were setting up something bigger, they must be in communication with those ship somehow." Randy said slamming his fist down onto the desk and looking out of the view port fully expecting to see a UAN ship looming on the horizon.

"That is a disturbing thought Commander, but I agree we need to get out of here now, we can't let the UAN find not only legacy but the rebel base, especially seen as our torpedo's are currently off line." Mickie said getting up and all three piled on to the bridge.

"Ensign Jericho go to the beach re call everyone Captain's orders, Miss Perez go withy him in case he gets anyone unwilling." Mickie said hoping Melina would catch her drift and the woman nodded her head and followed Chris into the lift.

"What the hell do we do now Randy?" Mickie asked turning to her first officer and shaking her head.

"We find out who the hell it is and hang them from their toe nails until they pass out from screaming." Randy said his voice dark and Mickie was under no illusion that he was joking.

It had taken nearly an hour to track everyone down, all of Legacy's crew were accounted for including their two rebel passengers and Mickie ordered them to disembark.

Cody hit the throttle as soon as they were in open water and they saw that the coast was clear. Randy had been thinking about who it could have been but his thoughts kept turning to John. He was one of only two people on board not to have a attachment to Legacy and it looked like the UAN had left them alone whilst they were on Hawaii, which might have been apart of the deal to give them up. He also had the access and the knowledge to do it. Randy glanced over at Mickie who was studying the sky in front of her and he decided for now he would keep his thoughts to himself.

"Anything Mr Debasie?" Mickie asked after half a hour and Ted confirmed what her screen was telling her that there was nothing out there, that either their assumptions about the traitor were incorrect or the UAN were being extra carful and were finally launching an attack that would take them down once and for all.

Mickie couldn't suppress the shiver that ran through her. She felt as though the sky should be dark and foreboding but it was bright sunshine and there was not a cloud in the sky.

"Mr Rhodes head for co-ordinates 36 degrees west 32 south." Mickie said steering them towards their Island where she would begin further investigations into what was happening on her ship.

Herself and Randy had agreed not to let anyone know of their ultimate destination until the last minute and even then only people on the bridge would be aware of their direction in time to warn any body.

Cody did as he was asked without question, he had come to trust his command team and he knew they always had their reasons, it was a perfect day for sailing anyway.

As they approached the Island with barely a flicker of activity Mickie allowed her muscles to relax slightly and her head to flop against the back of her chair. They would be able to hide here at least for a day or two and get their weapons back on line. They could also find out just who had been behind there sabotage in the first place. Randy had already gone down to the torpedo bay and he was hoping to get at least one working launcher in case they needed it.

"Slow in Mr Rhodes, let's not give those rocks a hello." Mickie said her voice light as Cody turned and nodded his head at her, a grin appearing on his face and he turned back to his controls.

"Captain!" Ted called out as warning signs went off all over his panel.

"What on earth!" Randy shouted standing up and looking at the three battle cruisers that were now blocking their path out of the inlet and had their guns pointed at them.

"This is High commander Sambo, we will accept only your unconditional surrender, or we will take you by force."

Mickie looked out of the window, she saw no escape, no way out of this, if they were to fight they would surely loose, they had few missiles left and their torpedoes were still out of action.

"This is Captain James, I will surrender as long as you promise my crew will not be harmed. Or I will go down gun firing and take as many of you with me as I can." Mickie said standing up and placing her hands on the back of Cody's chair.

"Agreed Captain, but I am taking your ship."

With that the transmission ended and the three war ships closed in on the Legacy giving her no room to even manoeuvre.

Randy was in one of the access tubes when he felt the ship get juddered to a halt, he heard all the commotion and recognised the sound of different voices. He had heard the red alert go off and he wanted to get to the bridge but something was telling him to stay put.

A few moments or hours later Randy was not sure a few UAN men entered the weapons room and scanned it, seeing no one they left and Randy let out the breath he had been holding. As he suspected they had been boarded and they didn't know he was here. It could prove an invaluable advantage.

Pulling himself further into the access tube he pushed he was down and into the inner workings of the ship and looked around him.

Mickie stood on the bridge looking defiantly at the high commander as he strolled in from the lift.

"Good afternoon Captain I assume you had a nice rest." The mans voice was silky smooth but held no warmth. Mickie just glared at him with cold eyes.

"No matter, ok everyone out, all Legacy personnel are being re located to the Island, lets see how you do without your superior technology." This time there was emotion, the commander was happy, he was almost unhealthily happy at his plan and Mickie's face dropped.

"You can't do that." She said which only got her a back hand across the face which split open her already cut cheek.

"Now you are just a woman like all the rest Captain, take them away." Sambo ordered and Mickie stood to go with Ted and Cody but she was grabbed under the arm pit and held tight against the high commander's chest.

"Not you I would like you to stay Captain." He said into her ear and his breath on her neck made her shiver.

Mickie watched as her crew left the bridge leaving her alone with Sambo and his men. Her eyes finally feel on a lone white figure standing in the corner near her ready room. Jeff Hardy kept himself to the shadows as Mickie's betrayed eyes fell upon his own.

Ok hope you enjoyed, this story has a mind of its own you know, I am no longer the author the characters are writing me.

As always thank you for reading and as always feedback will be great. To be honest I will be thrilled just to hear you have read this far.

Thanks for reading.


	15. The Basic's

Ok this is going to be short but I felt like I owed you a chapter as I have little time and do not know when I will get the chance sorry in advance for this abbreviated chapter.

The basic's

Mickie didn't know whether to be more angry or scared. She was looking from Jeff to Sambo and back again and finally all she felt was worry for her abandoned crew. Not twenty minutes after the high commander had boarded was Legacy sailing through the Atlantic again.

"Miss James you are very fortunate you are going to witness the destruction of your people from your very own bridge." Sambo said forcing her to sit by his side with a hand clamped on her shoulder by one of the guards.

"You have no idea what you have got yourself in for Sambo, you do not know how to operate this ship or to fix the damage your little spy did, how are you going to defeat anything with inoperable weapons?" Mickie said smirking at the man but his smile didn't falter.

"Jeff is going to fix his damage right now, and we have quite a way to travel before we will be having to engage anything in battle." He said as he waved Jeff off who left with two other men so only Mickie Sambo and the man at the helm were left.

"You underestimate my crew Sambo, they are resourceful and they will take back this ship." She said clenching her fist at her side at his obvious lack of fear of her.

"You underestimated me too once Miss James remember where that got you." He said and with that he turned his attention to his screen and Mickie got the idea that the conversation was over.

Ted had split the crew of the Legacy into three groups. Cody was in charge of group one, Melina had group two and Ted himself was standing just in front of group three.

"Listen up everyone!" He called and waited for the chatter to die down.

"Look it's obvious we are in a bit of trouble here, so we go back to what we know. The basic's, food water shelter. Cody your group look for food, anything you can gather, carry even cook. Melina you can start getting us shelter, its nice now but as we all know those tropical storms can get up pretty quickly around here. My group will look for water, bring as much back as we can and maybe clear a path if necessary. Any questions!" ted looked at everyone he could. They were still all soldiers of the US Navy and that training was coming in handy now. They all looked slightly shell shocked, they had been relying on technology for two long.

"I said do you understand!" Ted barked at them and he received a unanimous "Yes sir!" Back.

"As you have noticed our command team are not with us, we must assume that Captain James and Commander Orton are alive and are trying to get Legacy back, all we have to do is stay alive till they get back." Ted said as he dismissed them and all three parties went off in a separate direction.

"Do you really think that the Captain and Commander alone can take back the ship?" John Morrison asked as Ted lead them off in to the dense forest on the Island.

"If I know either of them, and I do they are planning something as we speak.

Randy had made his way through the bowels of the ship. It was hot and dirty going but he knew the first thing he had to do was stop the ship. He couldn't allow them to get too far away from the crew or the rebel base where they at least had some back up.

Manoeuvring over conduits and ducking under pipes Randy finally made it to the access hatch for the engines. Pulling it open he hadn't realised just how much down draft there was in there and he nearly got pushed back out of the door way.

"Well better than getting sucked in." He thought to himself as he made his way down the ladder carefully. Reaching the bottom rung he stepped off onto a narrow metal gangway. It lead around the perimeter of the room but its main function was to supply a walk way to the main computer core.

Coming upon it Randy looked at it for a few moments, he wanted to disable the ship not to leave her as a pile of metal on the ocean floor. He couldn't decide what to do, they must not be able to figure out how to correct the problem to quickly or he would not have enough time to take out enough of them to re take the ship, also he need to be able to repair it enough so he could sail it back to the Island.

Finally settling on overloading the power coupling to the motors Randy watched as sparks began to fly and the engines slow down.

Turning on his heal he rushed back up the ladder and in to the maintenance tube above. Closing the door behind him he made his way though the ship back to the main access route to the bridge. He would be able to watch them from behind one of the air vents without being seen himself. This idea then triggered another. Stopping abruptly Randy turned and headed back down the tube towards the medical bay.

Cody's team had been searching the Island for several hours now and had not come up with much to eat. There were a few berries, some edible plants but that was about it. Much of the plant life was wilted or picked clean by the animal life on the Island and Cody wondered if he could set some kind of trap to catch said animals.

"Lieutenant Rhodes?" Ensign Ouellette said as she walked up to him with some nasty looking beetles in her hands.

"I hope you are not suggesting we eat those Ensign." He said a disgusted look coming on to his face.

"the Commander said anything and these are edible sir, if we were desperate." She said with a wince as one plopped to the floor and tried scuttling away.

"Very desperate" She added as Cody almost got down on his knees and prayed that Legacy would come back for them soon.

Ted walked back on to the beach carrying with him full bottles of water. They had been successful in their mission to find water, but it was a hike away, the river ran parallel to this beach empting out on the eastern side of the Island some four kilometres away. Ted smiled when he saw the shelter, he knew leaving Melina in charge of that would either be his biggest mistake or biggest triumph.

They had managed to find many large pieces of wood and were placing them in the sand. Some of the group were gathering, others were digging and some were cutting. Melina was supervising as they erected another post and Ted could see the general shape of the hut coming together.

"Miss Perez I see as usual you have done wonderful work, here." He said handing her a bottle of water which she accepted gratefully. The rest of Ted's group shared out their water with the other crew members and a five minute break was called.

"We are nearly there with the basic structure but we need a roof, we could use the extra man power." Melina said perching on a log which was yet to be put up.

"Consider it done, we need to be thinking about a camp fire for the night to, I think we have maybe two hours of light left, and I am not great a rubbing two sticks together to make fire are you?" He asked her as Melina chuckled and tried to scratch under the cast on her left arm.

"No I'm not damm but this itches." She said as Ted slapped at her hand.

"Don't scratch I have insect bites all over me but you don't see me scratching do you. Now thank god the doc managed to cure us of that illness or all this would be a mute point." Ted said standing up as he spotted Cody coming out of the forest and he seamed to be carrying with him some goodies.

Mickie had to just watch as her ship sailed effortlessly across the ocean, she could not enjoy the smooth ride and the elegant grace any more though. All she could think about now was how Legacy first and for most was a battle ship, she was beautiful but she had teeth and in the hands of these men she could destroy a nation.

Before Mickie's thoughts could get any darker the ship began to shudder. Mickie gripped on to the arm of her chair and held on as Legacy bumped along and rolled now with instead of through the waves.

"What's going on!" Sambo demanded getting up out of his chair and going towards the helm.

"I can't be sure sir, but it looks like our engine's are off line." The young scared looking man said and Sambo turned his steely eyes on Mickie.

"You did this!" He said his voice low and hissed like a snake before its going to strike.

"How I have been sitting here the whole time. Maybe you ran out of gas." Mickie said sarcastically.

Mickie had hit the floor before she had even realised she had been hit. She looked up through the blizzard of hair that was now covering her face and straight into the eyes of Sambo. He looked like a mad man, his eyes were wide his nostrils flared impossibly huge and he was just looking at her like he didn't even know she was there.

"I want this fixed, and I want it fixed now, and you are going to help them." Sambo said pulling Mickie up by her arm pit and dragged over towards the lift.

"You know I will not help you take my ship further away from my crew." She said as he pushed the button for the lift.

"Oh no them what I will do is I will go back for your crew and kill them one by one until you help me." Mickie looked shocked for a second, then realisation dawned on her, he was actually capable of doing it, and what was even worse, he would enjoy it.

The lift came to the bride and a single UAN guard stood on it. Sambo pushed Mickie on and he said to the guard.

"She gives you any trouble feel free to show her how we deal with traitors, but don't kill her just yet I want her around for a little while longer." With that the doors closed and Mickie was left alone with a silent guard who had just been given permission to beet her.

'Could this day get nay worse' Mickie thought as the lights went out on the lift and it stuck between floors.

'I had to ask'

Sorry sorry sorry it is so short I know but I am trey busy at the moment and it was this or nothing, so the take over of Legacy will be in a few part the basic's being pt 1 hope you enjoyed this brief but drama filled chapter, remember it quality not quantity lol.

Thanks for reading


	16. At any cost

Here is an update for you, so sorry for the delay but I promise I have not forgotten.

At any cost

The lights flickered off inside the lift and Mickie had to fight the rising panic. She felt a large hand close around her arm as the guard that was with her grabbed hold of her and lent down so he was blowing his putrid breath in her face.

"What have you done?" He asked she could only just make out his eyes and she didn't like what she saw there. Fear often made people unpredictable, and here in this enclosed lift she would be no match for this man, things could get out of hand very quickly.

"Nothing I don't know what is going on." Mickie said keeping her voice calm but feeling anything but. Before the man could say anything more Mickie felt a flash of movement and the dark man holding her dropped to the floor. Another figure was climbing off him but Mickie could not make out who it was in the dark.

"Captain are you ok?" A deep voice asked and Mickie reached out with her hand trying to find some part of body that the voice belonged to.

"Yeah I'm fine how did you get here John?" Mickie said as she found his Hand in the dark and he took it squeezing on it gently.

"I hid as soon as they came on board, I knew they would shoot me on site and I thought I would be more use hiding on board." John said indicating to her to go up and out the top of the lift same way he had come in. Boosting her up Mickie climbed on to the top of the lift then turned back to help John up and out of the dark box leaving the unconscious guard hoping he wouldn't wake up to soon and alert them to Mickie's escape.

"Was it you who turned off the engines?" Mickie asked as they climbed through the lift shaft to one of the crew decks and waited in the small tube for some guards to walk past.

"No and anyway I wouldn't know how, I have been watching you from the ventilation ducts, waiting to get you out." John said keeping his head low and glancing from her to the open corridor.

"Someone else must be on board, Jeff betrayed us you know." Mickie said her eyes cast downwards and she saw John's eyes close together as he fought the anger building up inside him.

"I know and he will pay for what he ahs done believe me." John said but he was not going to elaborate any further and Mickie knew it was time to think of a plan.

"We have to re take the ship, but how with only two possibly three of us we are going to do that I am not sure." Mickie said getting John's attention back and he settled his look on her.

"I know we will need to take out quite a few of them before we can even get to the bridge, not to mention the two ships that are escorting us."

"the ships won't be a problem they wont expect an attack from Legacy they will be disable before they know what has hit them, but we are out numbered ten to one at the moment and even if we had weapons that would only even the odds slightly." Mickie whispered as another pair of guards carrying guns came around the corner and went to the lift.

"I think we are about to be discovered." John said as Mickie turned and crawled further into the tube. She knew that there must be someone else on Legacy, the shut down of the engines was deliberate and it would be a good idea to find this person before they tried to take back control of the ship.

"John I think we need to make it to engineering we have to see if we can find our saboteur." She said stopping and turning to face John who seemed deep in thought.

"Yeah but I bet they are not there any more, wouldn't want to get caught with their hand in the cookie jar so to speak." He said offering her a small smile and Mickie returned it but mentally slapping herself for the error in judgement.

"Where then?" she said looking about but the thought coming to her easily.

"Communications. Now we have stopped we can probably be rescued. Also they can access navigation control from up there and send the sensors into a spin, it would take hours to correct." Mickie said thinking out loud and John just had to smile at her.

"Communications it is then. Lead the way Captain." John said as Mickie lead him through yet another tube.

It was getting dark and it was getting cold. The wind had come up in the last half an hour or so and it was blowing the sand into Ted's eyes. They had managed to get a camp fire going and it was now large enough to withstand the growing wind. Cody had offered to cook and he and Maryse Ouellette were preparing everyone something to eat. Everybody else had been put to work on the shelter. The roof had been made out of slim sticks and dense leaves.

Melina had managed to find a vine like plant and was using them to lash the roof to the structure underneath. They had managed to find enough materials to make three sides as well so that they would provide some protection from the wind.

The side facing the ocean was left open and looked directly onto the fire and it was providing some warmth.

Melina stood back and admired her accomplishment once it was finished. Her arm was hurting and her body was sore, but it had been worth it. She had faith that someone probably her Captain would come back for them, but no one had any idea how long it was going to be. This was not what she had in mind when she had almost jumped at the chance to work on the newest ship in the navy's fleet, to be the chief and try out some of her more crazy engine idea's, but she wouldn't have changed her decision for the world, even now after everything that had happened, because of this wonderful crew. She felt someone come up behind her and she knew who it was without looking.

"Dinner is ready Melina." Ted said as he stood next to the petite engineer and looked at their temporary home.

"Good I am starving." Melina said turning to him and smiling. Ted gave her a brief smile back before he turned to follow her to where the rest of the Legacy crew had settled to eat by the fire. He couldn't help but stare out at the ocean. He had never felt so helpless in all his life, even when he was a child his father had taught him to use whatever was available to him, to not give up even though things looked impossible, that if you wanted something badly enough you could get it, but now Ted knew there was no want strong enough to get them off this Island alone. He looked over at Cody who was in deep conversation with some of the scientists. He looked around the circle of people from Cody on his left to Melina on his right and suddenly the weight of command seamed to weigh heavy on his shoulders. He wondered how Mickie had done it, for the last two weeks they had been captured, shot at, rolled around in a storm and now removed from their own ship, but she had still kept her head.

Melina placed her had on Ted's shoulder as he had yet to touch his food and he was just staring out into the darkness.

"Penny for them" she asked a warm smile crossing her face and Ted knew then exactly how Mickie had coped, because of this wonderful crew.

"Just wonder what when the Captain was going to grace us with her presence." Ted said and Melina couldn't help but choke back a laugh as she popped another cheery like berry into her mouth.

"Well I hope it is sometime soon, I did not like the look of those bugs Cody was carrying around, and believe me if they are on the menu for breakfast I am going vegetarian." She said and Ted looked down at his own food for the first time and decided that he could live like this for a while anyway.

Randy had gotten to the medical bay. It had been crawling with UAN soldiers. They had been picking the place apart looking for any useful dugs and treatments. Most of it they didn't understand, but then again Randy was no expert and they were things he was at least familiar with. By the time they had gone to look help look for what would be him he had gotten a pretty sore neck. He was not built for crawling around tight tube's. he was a big guy almost 6'4 and his knees and head were suffering from all the bangs and scrapes.

Randy dropped into the ward and stood upright stretching out the kinks but quickly ducking behind a wall so any passing guard wouldn't see him. He walked towards a locked door. It was unmarked and it looked like the UAN guys had left it alone. Pulling out his swipe access card from his pocket Randy ran it though the door locks.

It popped open and he quickly switched on the light and closed the door.

It was not much more than a closet with shelves on three of the walls, each shelf containing something with hazardous materials in.

On the self to his left were harmful medications, mainly live vaccines for treatment, but there was also samples of biohazards and Randy picked one up. Putting it down quickly realising that genocide was probably a bit extreme he walked to the shelf directly in front of him.

On the middle shelf was a canister of gas, in fact there were several, Randy decided he would take two just in case one didn't work or wasn't enough. He suspected though that one would be plenty. Tucking the deodorant size container into a back pack he had picked up from the medical bay he swung bad over his shoulder and pulled the door open slowly.

Clicking off the light Randy peered out in to am empty room and he wasted no time in making a dash back to the maintenance tubes.

Closing the hatch behind him he went to head for the ventilation controls up on the communications deck when he heard the ship wide tannoy sound.

"Miss James I know you are still on board this ship and I know you are not alone. Give yourself up and I will make it easy on you, if I have to come and find you, believe me you will not like the consequences." The high commander's voice sounded strained as Randy lent back against the wall of his tube and sighed.

He would have to find Mickie before he released the gas. He could use her help any way in getting the engines back on line and lock up the UAN people.

He did not know where she could be though, it was a big ship and knowing Mickie she would be trying to re take it as much as he was. Randy knew Mickie would not give up this ship until she had taken her last breath. The rumours about her getting this assignment because of her father were far from the truth.

Randy had met Admiral James once and it was to chew his arse out for something that was not his fault.

When he was just a Lieutenant he had questioned his first officers orders. He thought that getting the crew up after only a few hours sleep so he could have a long lunch was wrong, but the commander had made it an order and told him off for questioning it.

Randy did not want to be booted out of the Navy and he had followed the order, thinking no more of it he had gone back to base a few days later and was walking across the court yard when Admiral James had spotted him.

The commander had gone to the Admiral and had a little word in his ear, Randy couldn't say anything except stand there and take the pompous preening of a superior officer. It had earned him the reputation of being a bit of a trouble maker but had not stopped his promotion to commander a few months later when his Captain recommended it.

He did not realise the hard nose the Navy code of conduct book is my bible Admiral James had a daughter, in fact when he had seen who his Captain was going to be on this mission it had not clicked for several days, when it had Randy had secretly been hoping she would fall flat on her face, but his opinion had changed very quickly.

Mickie James was nothing like her father, she had heart and courage. She would do anything for her crew and he was sure that even meant sacrificing her own life.

Pushing himself away from the wall of the tube and crawling along he knew exactly where Mickie would be because it was exactly where he was going, she was sure to be looking for him and communications and navigational control would be the first place to get some prospective. That and it was right next to the main ventilation system where he could put his plan into action.

Mickie was checking the internal sensors while John kept his eyes on the doors. The UAN had not thought to check internal sensors for them. They probably had never even herd of them. John certainly hadn't and he had been fascinated with the beeping of the heat sensors as they followed the UAN crew around the ship.

Mickie located a figure which had been still for a while, and was in between decks, which meant they were moving through the access tubes. It was probably their saboteur and missing crew man. She just had to hope it was not Jeff fixing the systems as she knew they had limited time before that happened and things would be easier to control whilst they were stationary.

"I think I have found them, and they are coming this way, I don't think we are going to have to go to them at all." Mickie said glancing up at John who was looking down the corridor and then he looked over his shoulder at her.

"Are you sure, we can't afford to get caught." He said but Mickie thought John was looking far to anxious for her liking, she remembered how Jeff had acted, how he had looked so nervous on the bridge. Mickie had realised quickly why he had done it. It was to save the rebel base, to save his family and his friends. Mickie knew what it was like to have that kind of pressure placed on you to protect people. She also knew a double cross when she saw one, the UAN had no intention of keeping their promise, what was a battle ship for if not destroying your enemies. Sambo had said it himself, Mickie was going top get him destroy them from her own bridge.

"John what ever he promised you he won't stick to it." Mickie said watching as the figure approached the room from the tube low down on Mickie's left. Stepping forward and obscuring John's view of the cover Mickie watched John's eyes shift from side to side.

"He won't let you go, he will use you then he will kill you." Mickie said placing her hand on his arm as John suppressed a shiver. He really did like this woman, she was strong courageous, but miss guided. To live out here to keep your family alive you had to be willing to do any thing sacrifice honour and loyalty and be willing to deal with the Devil at any cost.

"I'm sorry Mickie, but Beth is never going to be touched by these men again and if that means giving them you then I will do it." John said as he lurched forward and ran at Mickie.

Mickie jumped to the side as Randy threw himself against John sending him to the consol with a crash.

Randy punched John in the jaw before he had time to recover and Mickie locked the door to the room so that any passing guard heard them. She knew John had not gotten word to them yet, he had been waiting for Randy to arrive, so that he could deliver them right in to the arms of the UAN.

Randy clocked John once more while he was on the floor, he had not only been caught of guard but he had been to busy appealing to Mickie the reasons for his betrayal to notice Randy's appearance.

"Randy enough." Mickie said placing her hand on her first officers arm as it swung back to hit John again but the man was already unconscious.

"Sorry wanted to make sure you know." Randy said smiling down at Mickie, he was so glad to see her but it would have to wait until later.

"Ok did you here what he said about Beth?" Mickie asked helping Randy off John as she watched him swing off his back pack and take something out.

"I did, and I suppose I can see where he is coming from, not the betrayal thing never, but for you for this crew I would pretty much do anything." Randy said giving Mickie the gas canister and she lifted her eyebrow.

"At any cost Commander." It was not a question it was a statement as she smiled at him and climbed back into the tube.

I hope you enjoyed this I was going to end this a paragraph early but I decided that would be too cruel so I kept going.

As ever feed back is wonderful thank you to all those who have supported me in writing this very odd story especially Cena' baby doll and sopha0401 you guys rock. I will be updating more regularly this week I hope that will keep you guys happy.


	17. Our ship

Quick update for you.

Our ship

Ted had managed to get the watch rota sorted and he had made sure he was on the last watch. Something was telling him that in the morning things were going to change. He sat now alone with John Morrison staring out at the Atlantic and pulling his jacket more firmly around him to ward off the cold that was threatening to seep into his bones.

"You know I can't shake the feeling that we are missing something." John said whilst adding more sticks to the fire and Ted turned his head to look at the young man beside him. The fire was flickering off his face and it gave him an odd glow, his long and slightly against regulation hair had fallen out from its stiff pony tail and he looked very tired.

"What is that John?" Ted asked as John also turned to look at him.

"If I knew sir I doubt we would be stuck on this Island." John smiled at his commanding officer and Ted had to smile back. The situation was quite ironic, something didn't feel right about this whole episode yet if they had known what it was it would not have happened in the first place.

The fire flicked with a gust of wind and Ted had to shield his face from the biting sand that was thrown against his cheek.

"You know they are right the darkest hour is just before the dawn." Ted said as the wind died down and a sudden quite over come the camp site.

Mickie was crawling behind Randy she had been very impressed with his plan to release the nitrous oxide in to the ventilation systems to knock out as many people as possible. There were two drawbacks however, one was they couldn't guarantee everyone would be knocked out and the effects would only be temporary maybe twenty minutes if they were lucky.

"Ok so we need to see if we can get them all into one place, or at least only a few locations." Randy said leaning against the open hatch as Mickie climbed down into systems control.

"that will be easy we just walk into a room I am sure that will bring them all running." Mickie said, she was hot and dirty and fed up of these people. They had taken her ship deserted her crew and were treating her like a lab rat. Right now Randy's admittance that he had considered using a biohazard weapon was not looking like such a bad plan.

"Ok that could work especially if we used one of the cargo bays." Randy said ignoring her attempt at being sarcastic and getting out on bottle of the NO2.

"What about using the launch bay for the D-Ex we could then jump inside and avoid getting dosed ourselves, plus it wouldn't look suspicious if we were trying to escape." Mickie joined in her brain working now she could finally see a way out.

"So how do we get this one to go off?" He said placing the cylinder inside the main unit and checking that the system was set up to blow air through the vents not suck it out.

"Time delay." Mickie replied as she smirked at his confusion. Mickie squeezed passed Randy so she could get access to the controls. It was cramped in here and there was not a lot of room to move. Not that Mickie was complaining, there was something very nice about being pressed hard up against Randy's chest, not that she was going to tell him that.

Randy was suddenly finding it difficult to breath, Mickie's back was pushed right up against his front and she was wiggling about inside the vent. Randy was trying hopelessly to concentrate on what she was doing but the more she pushed and turned against him the more he was scared he would have a reaction to his very attractive Captain.

"Done!" Mickie finally said turning and moving back around to Randy's side and he let out a sigh of relief.

"Great so now all we have to do is get down to the launch bay a set off the other one."

Randy said trying not to show his relief on his face as Mickie turned to climb back up in to the maintenance shaft.

"We better get moving then I have set that for twenty minutes." Mickie said looking over her shoulder and swearing that randy had a slight flush to his cheeks and thought he might be coming down with something. She would have to get the doctor to look him over once everyone was back on board.

Sambo had been sitting in Mickie's chair for the past half an hour. He was tired of beating Jeff and John and they had provided him with no information any way. They simply didn't know where the Captain or her first officer were.

"I need them found, they could blow this ship up from the inside for all we know!" Sambo rage at his guards as they all hung their heads.

"I will not be out witted by these two white slaves, no I will not be out witted by a woman!" He slammed his fist in to the arm rest on Mickie's chair and winced as pain shot through is arm. He smiled up at his men now, he always believed pain was his friend, it let him know when to stop, that he was still alive and most importantly it was a perfect weapon to extract information.

"When I find them I am going to make them suffer so much they will beg for death." He said in a low quite voice. His dark thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the ships inter comm.

"High commander we have them pinned down in the launch bay they were trying to escape."

"Do not kill them bring them to me!" Sambo said a smile appearing on his face as he looked at the men still standing around him.

"Well what are you waiting for, get down there and help them!" No further instructions were needed the men on the bridge including a battered and bruise John and Jeff scurried for the lift and they left Sambo alone reclining in Mickie's chair.

"Well you wanted them all in one place." Randy said as he aimed his gun over the bow of the D-ex. They had been dodging bullets for five minutes now and were pinned down behind the D-ex, they could not get inside and release the gas.

"Maybe we should just go for it, they will be so confused we should be able to get inside before it effects us." Randy said glancing at Mickie who had her back pushed firmly against the cool metal.

"Ok we only have three minutes before that other canister goes off anyway." Mickie said taking a deep breath and pulling the top off the nitrous oxide.

"After three." She said and Randy just nodded, Mickie used her fingers to count down, as she threw the canister over arm into the path of the waiting guards.

First there was silence then screams then coughing. Mickie and Randy only got as far as the screams as they threw open the door to the D-ex and scrambled inside.

"Taking a deep breath of clean air they watched as the men fell about them coughing and finally falling into unconsciousness. Mickie looked at randy and he just nodded his head.

Opening the door Mickie ran though all the sleeping men closing and locking the bay doors on their way out they headed for the bridge.

As the lift doors opened Randy ran straight to the helm, it had taken them almost fifteen minutes to get to the bridge because of all the guards they had to secure along the way. They were pretty sure they had almost everyone and any one who was left would not be able to stop them any longer.

Mickie rounded on her chair and stared down at a sleeping Sambo and she decided that he should get to watch the destruction of his ships from her bridge.

Tying his hands and feet securely she went over to Randy and by passed the safety protocols that were keeping the engines locked up and then ran to tactical.

"Ok Commander come about I am going to take out the starboard ship first."

As the engines roared to life Sambo stirred he began to sit up but he couldn't move very far.

"Hello commander so glad you could join us." Randy said over his shoulder as the UAN ship loomed large in the front windows.

"What are you doing!" He yelled but he received no reply.

"Watch commander." Mickie said her voice quite and it made Randy smile at her composure.

"Launching missile, Randy on my mark come about and face the opposite ship. Mark"

As Mickie hit the launch button randy hit the engines and they only caught half the explosion as they swung to face the other ship and immediately fired at that one too. This time they got to watch the ship tilt and pitch in the water plumes of smoke coming from its forward compartments as Sambo's eyes grew impossibly large.

"No you how dare you do this to me!" Sambo struggled as Randy laid in a course back to the Island and Mickie stood in front of Sambo.

"Maybe now you will leave us alone, all we want to do is get home, we will allow you the same curtiacy as you gave us, your crew will be allowed to live you will change places with my crew and if your lucky one of your ships will come by and pick you up." Mickie said folding her arms and watching as Sambo's face fell into a thunderous look but the man said nothing. Mickie was sure he was planning his revenge but if Mickie had anything to do with it he would not get the chance.

Cody was sitting on the beach trying to make a fishing rod out of a long stick he had found and he was trying to sharpen the end with a stone he had found. He glanced up at the ocean and saw a flash of light just like the sun reflecting off a metal surface. Standing up stick forgotten Cody placed his hand over his brow to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun.

"Commander Ted get over here!" Cody called as the mast of a ship came into view. Ted ran to join Cody shortly followed by Melina who had been making a proper latrine.

"No way!" ted yelled as they all realised that it was indeed their ship. The shout brought everyone within ear shot on to the beach. The crew of the Legacy watched as their ship pulled into to the inlet and the bow doors opened.

"Now that is an entrance!" Ted shouted as Mickie and Randy escorted at gun point thirty UAN troops off Legacy and on to the beach.

"You know how I like to make a good impression Mr Debasie." Mickie said throwing her third officer a rifle and grinning at him.

"Never doubted you Ma'am." Cody said as he too was given a gun as the Legacy crew re boarded their ship leaving just the four of them on the beach.

"Hope you enjoy your stay gentlemen and feel free to use the facilities." Ted said as they turned down the beach and jogged the rest of the way to the ship.

Mickie sat back in her chair next to Randy, she looked at the back of Cody's familiar head and smiled over her shoulder at Ted.

"Set course Mr Rhodes."

"Aye Ma'am where?"

"Away from here."

With that the Legacy came to life once more leaving the UAN back on the Island and two rebels in their brig.

Hope you enjoyed that, what else can I throw at this poor hapless crew, will Mickie and Randy ever talk to each other about their obvious chemistry, and will they break the rules to be together. If you would like to find out just review and I will be happy to oblige.


	18. Unity

Hello I am back, I am afraid this one is going to be short, but oh so sweet.

Unity

Mickie was awake in her cabin, it felt like days since she had last slept. In fact if she really thought about it, it had been days. Now she had the chance to sleep, they had moored the Legacy in a secluded sport well away from any UAN activity and in the shelter of a small Island. She had ordered everyone on stand down but everyone was to remain on board. Fortunately the majority of the crew had had enough of Island life and were happy to be together on the ship just talking, playing cards or getting in a game of squash on the on board gym.

Mickie had turned down all invitations for joining her crew, she had a quick meal with Ted and they had caught up on all the information whilst they had been apart. Ted had quickly realised that his friend was not however up for much socializing however and he had made his exit swiftly after the meal was over.

Mickie did not know why she did not want to relax with her crew, yes as a Captain she had always been told to keep a healthy distance from her crew. To not become their friend, but someone they could trust, it was a fine line between what was and wasn't expectable, and for a woman that line was even blurrier.

Turing over on to her back once more sleep eluding her still even though her body and mind were drained she couldn't help her thoughts drift to her first officer.

He had been somewhat more receptive to the crews' invitations of activities and he had gone to play poker with Cody, John Morrison and a few others in the observation lounge. He had given her an are you alright look before he left the bridge at the wave of her hand as she slipped in to her ready room, but there was something else in his eyes, like he was going with the crew but he really wanted to stay with her.

Mickie let out a huff of breath and slammed her eyes shut willing her self to sleep. Was that a look from Randy or was it just wishful thinking on her part, Mickie was not sure, she knew that a first officers job was to protect and serve their Captain, but out here all alone there was a closeness that had grown between the crew a lot faster than on a normal Navel vessel.

Perhaps it was because of their situation or the amount of times their lives had been put in danger, but this crew was a family and Randy was part of that family. Mickie knew that they had put their lives in her hands and she was going to do anything within her power to get them home.

Flipping over on to her stomach Mickie couldn't shut off the random thoughts running through her mind. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was 2 am. Throwing off the covers knowing that she would have to do something to switch her brain off before she attempted to sleep again she threw on her dressing gown and a pair of very loved slippers and opened her door.

The decks were all quite, Mickie could here the lapping of the waves against the hull and she could almost here the sounds of the ship breathing. She smiled at the term her father used to use for the metal work settling down as the temperature cooled and the metal relaxed back into place. Mickie could now see why he had referred to it as the ship breathing.

Turning a corner and walking along the Starboard deck Mickie noticed that instead of the normal port holes to view out of there was a long window that ran almost level with the top of her head. Stepping up on tip toes she could see out all the way across the ocean and she wondered why she had not noticed this feature before.

"Maybe because they built the window too high for you to see out of" she thought to herself as she put her feet flat on the floor and continued her walk along the deck.

Stopping outside the observation lounge she paused listening in case she heard signs of activity. She knew poker games could go on for hours and she had no wish to intrude on her crew.

She was met however with only silence and she pushed open the door. There was a reason they called this the observation lounge. It was meant for entertaining dignitaries. There was a similar set up to the mess hall, a long galley open in front to allow guest to see their food being prepared with several tables placed around the room. There were a few main defences though, while the mess hall was comfortable the observation lounge was extravagant. The entire exterior wall was made from shatter proof glass and could be obscured from view by two pair of red velvet curtains. The carpet was a deep blue and had a spring to it that the mess halls wooden decking could not match. The tables were built for six instead of four and were round instead of square. When Mickie had first seen this room she thought of it as hopefully an unnecessary luxury, but now it really was that. So far poker had been its main function and now it served as her surround for her wondering thoughts.

"Captain?"

Mickie spun around at the soft deep voice and she couldn't help but let a corner of her mouth quirk up at the sight of her first officer.

"I thought everyone was in bed." She said turning to look back out of the window and watched his reflection in the window as he came to stand next to her.

"Me too, I was having trouble getting off." He said and suddenly blushed at his own turn of phrase.

"To sleep that is." He added quickly as Mickie's shoulders stated to shake as she chuckled to her self.

"In my defence it is late." Randy said as Mickie looked at him shaking her head slightly.

"It's fine I needed that, I felt like I have not laughed in a very long time." She said placing her hand on his for arm and giving him a gentle pat. Mickie did not let the fact that randy was only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of sweats go unnoticed as she walked away and sat down at the nearest table. Randy followed her and sat opposite and she allowed him to just share in her silence for awhile, enjoying just being in his company without rank and uniform it was easier to see him as just her friend.

"Do you think we will get home?" She asked finally breaking the companionable silence and looking Randy directly in the eyes. Right now she didn't need his reassurance she needed his honesty and she knew that she would only know for sure if she was looking him in the eyes.

"You know I am not sure but if we don't we will still have each other, we could care out a lives here for ourselves we are not dead yet." He said reaching over towards her hand but something stopped him mid reach and he ended up leaving his hand in the middle of the table. Mickie did not need to be encouraged. She reached forward with her own hand and closed the gap. Taking his fingers in between her own and linking their hands in front of them she smiled as she looked into his eyes.

"You know I think your right, maybe it isn't the destination, and maybe it is the journey." She said looking down for a second but not breaking the contact of their hands.

"I would like to get my crew home to their families though, some of them are so young, they have parents, young families of their own and I can not ignore the fact we are well and truly in hostile waters here." She said her look turning icy as she thought about the two prisoners in their brig.

"What are we going to do with those two Mickie?" Randy said picking up on her line of thought whilst he ran his thumb over the back of her hand.

"I don't know yet, they are dangerous to us, they know just enough to put this ship and our crew at risk and I am not going to give them the chance, maybe it would be best to take them back to Hawaii we are going to need to re flue eventually and loosing that source would be a bad blow." Mickie said pondering the question but not letting Randy's caress go unnoticed, she was looking at the contact of their hands and had no intention of breaking the bond that had formed between them in this lavish room on her stranded ship. It was almost ironic that whilst all hope seemed to be lost they had all managed to find small moments of happiness that had kept them all fighting.

"Promise me something Randy." Mickie said clearly now, there was no room for interpretation in her voice. Randy knew that the next words out of her mouth were ones she meant and he had to be sure he could promise anything at this point.

"What is it?" He said dodging the question somewhat.

"No promise me as your Captain randy, you have to do this for me." She said gripping his hand tighter and forcing him to look at her.

He couldn't resist those big dark eyes and that steady grip and he nodded almost so small Mickie could have missed it had her gaze not been so focused.

"If something happens to me you will get this crew home, no matter what." Randy let out a sigh of relief he thought this was going to be about them, about what he could feel happening between them, that she would make him promise not to love her and not to want her, but she hadn't.

"I promise Mickie, but nothing will happen to you, you are like a cat you have nine lives." He said smiling at her but she only allowed half of her mouth to smile as she dropped her eyes and her hand.

Randy didn't like the loss of the contact by there was nothing he could do about it. He was still not sure how she felt about him, and it was still against the rules for them to be together while she was his Captain, there was no chance of that changing anytime soon, but there was also the possibility that it would never change, they could be sailing this ship across this ocean for the next thirty years and there was no way he would wait that long.

"Mickie how long will you try to get home for, before we give up." Randy said getting her attention back and pulling her thoughts back into the room.

"As long as I takes I guess, I suppose there will come a point where we either don't have the resources or the will to carry on but I hope we never get to that point." She said picking up his hand once more and giving it a brief squeeze.

"I think I am ready for bed now." She said as she went to let go Randy held on to her had and stood up so he was looking down at her. Here now in the soft glow of the moon light, her silk blue pyjamas showing through her open dark blue robe and a pair of somewhat tatty slippers he could forget she was the Captain, even if it was for the briefest of moments she could forget it too.

Randy lent down slowly, he was giving her plenty of chance to back away but she did not take it. Instead he saw her eyes flutter shut as he felt her warm soft lips touch his own. Not touching her in any other way apart from their joined hands and their lips Randy moved his lips over hers softly and slowly, just felling her skin against his own as he pushed forward slightly and applied more pressure.

Mickie allowed him to kiss her because I that moment she wanted it, as his lips pressed more firmly against her she backed off slightly and moved away from him.

Looking up at him and giving him a small sorry smile she allowed her fingers to slip from his and she turned and walked out of the observation lounge. All randy could do was watched her go as he took a last glance out of the window before heading to his own cabin.

Mickie understood now why ships were referred to as female, because this one was a hopeless romantic. Patting her ship and smiling Mickie opened her cabin door and shrugged off her robe slid out of her slippers and crawled in to bed, sleep came far easier now Legacy was content in the softly rolling water.

Hope you liked please let me know this chapter is a little bit of a break from the drama but oh so important.

As ever thank you to all those who have reviewed I would not have continued this story without you and just to let you know it is no where near over yet, not sure whether that will please you or not, but there it is.

Thanks for reading X


	19. Living witness

Massive apologies for the slow update, but I promise I will try to give you more this week.

Living witness

Mickie walked into the brig and looked at the pair of rebels behind the steal bars who were sitting on the bunk side by side, as soon as they saw her come in they stood up and came over to the bars.

Mickie stood just out of reach the other side, she folded her arms and let out a long puff of air.

"I have decided to take you back to Hawaii." She stated not a hit of emotion in her voice as she looked from one man to another.

"I will not keep you in this brig indefinitely and I have no desire to take you back home with us once the opportunity arises." She continued when neither man said anything.

"Captain, Mickie look the UAN they know about the base, if we go back they will come and destroy us." John said coming to the front of the cell and looking out at her from between the bars.

"You don't understand gentlemen I am letting you live, a curtacy you did not give us when you decided to betray us." Mickie replied her voice icy and her eyes hard.

"We did it to save our families, you have to understand that, we have been living like this for years." John said imploring Mickie to see his side of the story but she remained stony faced and he knew the Captain of Legacy would take much more convincing after what they had done.

"They rape her Captain, my sister to get her to talk, it almost broke her, I could never let that happen to her again, she would not survive. They wanted her back you know, but they wanted you more, so I took the opportunity to save my sister, anyone would have done the same." John said as a small tear ran down his face and he swiped at it with the back of his hand.

Mickie was expecting this, she knew of the horrible things that had happened to Beth, she also knew that Beth would not have wanted her brother to deal with the UAN however honourable his intensions were.

"I am sure you will have time to get your people off the Island, it will be a few days before the commander is rescued and able to launch an attack on you." Mickie said turning away from the pair as she heard her name called and she looked over her shoulder.

"Mickie, we do not have enough ships to get everyone out in time." Jeff said it was the first thing he had said to her since she had seen him on the bridge and her heart hurt at the tone of his voice but she knew this was the only option open to her and even this was risky.

"I am afraid you have made your bed and I am going to have to ask you to lie in it." With that Mickie walked out of the brig and down the corridor. Only when she was sure she was out of ear shot and alone did she let out the breath she had been holding, she fell back against the wall and placed her head in her hands.

"Captain?"

Mickie jumped at the sound of her name, she whipped at the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes and straightened herself up.

"Mr Mizanin what can I do for you." She said using all her training to give the young Ensign a smile and a confident nod.

"I was just wondering if you were ok?" Mike felt kind of awkward asking his Captain who he had just found on the verge of tears if she was ok, but a stronger part of him wanted her to share her pain, maybe even ease the burden of her command. He may only be an Ensign but he knew the burdens of command by being a bridge officer he had several crew members that reported to him, and he felt the weight of that dependency more than ever now, he could only imagine how the Captain was felling.

"I'm fine Mike honest, just had to deliver a verdict to our two guests, it did not go down very well." Mickie said as she started to walk back towards the lift as Mickie walked with her in companionable silence.

As they boarded the lift Mike turned to her and Mickie saw a look in his eyes that was telling her he was holding something back.

"What's up Mike?" Mickie said placing her hand on his for arm to get his attention.

"Permission to speak freely Ma'am?" He asked looking down at where she was touching him and a small blush appeared on his face.

"Permission granted." Mickie said knowing she had no reason to deny him and she removed her hand as she noticed him looking uncomfortable.

"You should have chucked those two overboard, they should be grovelling at your feet for spearing you and yet they want more." Mike said feeling his anger rise as the lift was almost at its destination.

"Noted Mr Mizanin, maybe I will regret not throwing them in to the deep blue one day, maybe I won't but I ask you this could you be the one to push them?" Mickie asked as the lift doors opened and Mike was spared the agony of answering her question as she strode on to the bridge as though the last five minutes had not happened and barked for a report.

"All systems ready Captain." Ted replied from tactical as Cody swung on his chair a little and looked as Mickie sat next to Randy who looked at her for just a few moments too long and he was caught by Cody who remained passive but gave Randy a small eyebrow raise.

"Helm ready." Cody said a he turned back to his station and Mickie looked at randy who was looking at the back of Cody's head.

"Commander?" She questioned with her own eyebrow raised and Randy had to let out a cough.

"Sorry Ma'am Legacy is all yours" He said looking at her and offering her a cheeky grin which Mickie could only ignore for now as she faced forward once more.

"Mr Rhodes set course for Hawaii, full speed I want to deliver our cargo as quickly as possible."

With that Legacy pulled away from their sanctuary and headed back out for the open water. At their current speed they would reach Hawaii within two hours, Mickie wanted to contact Beth before they got their she wanted to explain what had happened and hopefully work out how they could help each other.

"You have the bridge Commander." Mickie said standing up only ten minutes after Legacy departed and walking towards her small room.

Randy could do nothing but watch her leave, she had not spoken to him apart from to ask him about ships business, nothing about their kiss or what had happened the night before. He was half disappointed half glad. On one hand she had not encouraged his advancements but she had not slapped him down either, he was dreading seeing her waiting for her to tell him that she couldn't let their relationship happen, that it was against the rules and that the kiss had been a mistake. No what she had done was completely forget that it had happened and carried on as normal.

Randy hoped that it was because she had a lot of things on her mind, not only did she have to talk to John and Jeff, but she was asking the crew to go back to a place where they could be ambushed again. All for two people who had almost cost them their lives, randy knew the crew understood why she had made the decision and he was going to make sure Mickie knew they supported her in it. Little did he know about the conversation that had just gone on in the lift before Mickie had arrived on the bridge.

For now Randy would give Mickie some time, she looked like she could use a cup of coffee, and taking Ted's advice for once he would wait until she had finished it before going to see her.

Beth was looking over her schematics for a new type of engine that would enable her to get a light craft into the air. She had been working on it before she had been taken and now she had finally finished the draft.

It had been quite here without her brother, she had mainly spent her days with him back before she had been taken there were not many of them then and now there were hundreds on this island alone. She knew hardly any of them though and chose to spend most of her days alone coming up with more engine designs.

She didn't like to be around strangers too much anyway, she had learnt in her time of captivity to be wary of people she didn't know and she still found it hard not to flinch when some one touched her.

The call over the radio startled her as it crackled and a soft feminine voice came though. Beth smile in recognition and picked up the receiver and replied.

"Beth here Captain how can I help you?" She said letting a smile appear on her face. She liked the Captain of Legacy she was a strong woman who Beth suspected was a lot more cunning and wise than her years and she knew they were a great asset to the rebels.

As Beth listened to what Mickie had to say Beth's face fell. She could not believe what her brother had done, the risks he had taken, and the pain he had caused these people who had only offered to help them.

"I do not know what to say Captain, I can only apologise, I am sure there are those among us who would agree with my brothers actions, I however am not one of them." Beth said sitting in her chair and placing both elbows on the desk and cradling her face in her hands.

"I am glad to here that Beth, I have a proposal for you." Mickie paused knowing that what she was offering was a huge step for Beth and she wanted to make sure the woman made the right decision.

"I would like you to come and work for me on Legacy, it would help stop the UAN from taking you back and we can both be useful to each other, I need a guide and you need a safe place."

Beth didn't know what to say, her first thought was to jump at the chance to go with them, to be away from this island and the constrictions it placed on her. But to leave her family to leave her life was a huge decision.

"I will think about it Captain." Beth said and Mickie told her they would be here within the hour and to take her time. Placing the receiver back Beth stood up and looked out of the opening of the cave she was in towards the blue clear sky and she sighed.

Randy approached the door cautiously, he had heard voices before when he had gone to talk to Mickie and realised she had been talking to John's sister, he had come back to his chair and waited watching the radars and sensors for any sign of UAN ships but nothing had happened.

After twenty minutes had gone past he decided to try again, this time there was no sound coming from within the read room and Randy raised his fist and knocked.

"Come in." Was all he heard and all he needed, opening the door Randy stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"Commander what can I do for you?" Mickie said glancing up at him and flashing him a small smile before going back to a report.

Randy hesitated, what had he come in here for, to badger her about a kiss that was barely more than friendly, it seemed silly now that he was here and kind of unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

"Umm food supplies, I am afraid they are getting low." Randy said remembering what Maria their cook had told him only this morning as he had entered the mess hall for breakfast.

"Damm it well we knew it was coming, we will have to think about another trip to Japan, hopefully they will be willing to deal with us alone." Mickie said looking at him once more and putting her report down.

"How bad it is Randy, do the crew hate me for letting John and Jeff go?" Mickie said and Randy was shocked by her statement.

"Hate you No Mickie they would die for you, they would go any where you asked them too and back again." Randy said sitting opposite her now and taking hold of her hand.

"Maybe, maybe I am just questioning my own decision here." Mickie said squeezing Randy's hand then turning her eyes to his once more. She looked in to there blue depths and felt her breath catch for a moment.

"Randy about last night."

"Bridge to Captain James we are approaching Hawaii." Ted's voice rang out over the inter comm. And the moment was broken. Randy almost hit the desk in frustration but he pulled back at the last moment and followed her through the door and up towards their command chairs.

"Take her in Mr Rhodes we are expected." Mickie said as she looked down and saw a small crowd gathered on the docks, it wasn't enough people to make her concerned but she could not prevent the shiver of anxiety rush though her body.

Beth ran through the crowd as they parted for her and she ran up to the small group walking down the gang way. Her brother and Jeff were in the lead and were hand cuffed and being walked down by two of Legacy's security officers. At the back Mickie walked next to Randy who was looking at his Captain like she was a precious metal and Beth couldn't help but envy them.

"Beth, look I'm sorry I had to." John said before a loud slap punctuated the air and John's face whipped to the side.

"Now that's over with, Captain thank you for bringing them back, I doubt I would have been so forgiving in your position." Beth said turning to Mickie as she gave the guards a nod to release John and Jeff. The other rebels had done little more than looked shocked and Mickie noticed that most of them were looking fairly nervous as well.

"Once again I apologise for what they have done, can I offer you some supplies as a thank you, we have more than we can carry now and you deserve what ever we can not take with us." Beth said giving her brother a death glare and John kept his head low but spoke up for the first time.

"Please Captain if nothing it will give you a few more days before you have to trade again." He said and Randy looked at the man that had almost got them killed and he saw the genuine grief in his eyes.

"Thank you, we could use whatever you have to offer." Mickie said following Beth towards the main caves and in turn she was flanked by Randy but John and Jeff remained on the dock talking with the other rebels.

"Here we have enough supplies here to last you for a while." Beth said finally walking into the food store and Mickie was surprised by just how much they had. Mickie turned to Randy who understood quickly and he got on his radio to Ted and asked them to organise a team to come and collect the supplies.

"This will take several hours are you also going to prepare to leave?" Mickie said as she and Beth walked back out into the open and noticed that the dock was now deserted.

"I guess so, they can do what they like for all I care." Beth said giving Mickie a small smile as the shorter woman's eyes lit up.

"Does this mean you will be coming with us?" Mickie said unable to keep the smile off her face.

"I will be delighted to join you Captain." Beth said as the two women embraced on the dock as Ted and Cody walked down the ramp and Ted let off a wolf whistle.

"Sorry Ma'am thought I had stumbled upon an episode of Baywatch." Ted called and Mickie gave him a raised eyebrow and a smile.

"Get to work commander." Mickie ordered in her best Captain's voice which earnt her a salute from her old friend and a chuckle from Cody as he walked passed them.

"I will just have to get everything organised." Beth said turning back towards the cave.

"Don't worry you have plenty of time." Mickie called excitedly as Randy came up to join her.

"I think she may be the key to getting us home Randy." Mickie said as he stopped next to her and looked after the blonde woman retreating from them and then back down to the petite brunette.

"I hope your right."

It had taken the crew of Legacy over four hours to hump all the supplies from the Island. They had taken everything that the rebels could not carry, they had practically filled up their cargo holds with it and Mickie thought they would have enough to last them for well over a week.

Beth had caught Mickie's arm as the Captain was about to board the D-ex to head back to Legacy as the ship was now docked outside of the harbour to allow the rebel ships to fill up their own holds. Mickie and Randy had come back to the Island to collect Beth and her things while Ted had taken Legacy out of the way and was now just waiting for their command team to return.

"Are you ready yet!" Randy called as Beth stuck her head around a wall and nodded as she hefted a bag over her shoulder. Mickie followed her out shaking her head but saying nothing.

"Thank god, I thought women on our world were bad but you take the cake." Randy said offering to carry the bag but Beth declined.

Walking towards the D-Ex Mickie glanced up and saw something on the horizon. Squinting she gripped Randy's forearm which caused him to look at her, then he followed the direction of the gaze.

"It's the UAN." Beth said, it was a quite almost resigned admission and Mickie couldn't help but frown at the on coming ships.

"I thought we would have more time." Mickie said as she saw five ships appear out of the horizon and engulf Legacy.

Mickie got on to the radio there was still time for Legacy to get away and she shoved Beth into the D-ex.

"Randy you too." She ordered but he shook his head.

"There is no way I am leaving you alone." He replied and Mickie could see he wasn't going to budge on this one so she radioed Ted.

"Ted get Legacy to the Island as fast as you can no arguments, I have put Beth in the D-ex and put it on auto pilot you can meet up with her there, she is your best chance of getting home, use it."

"Mickie don't you dare get in that damm boat." Ted shouted even as he ordered Cody to start the engines.

"No time hopefully the High commander will be to interested in us to care about the D-ex." Mickie said closing the lid on a protesting Beth but the woman did as she was told and hit the go for the auto pilot and Mickie and Randy stood on the dock and watched the boat sink.

"Guess we need to leave at least one living witness." Randy said as they watched as Legacy too raced off into the distance, they saw two UAN ships break off in pursuit but they were already loosing ground before Ted hit the turbo and vanished washing a wall of water behind him.

"Looks like you saved your crew once more, now all we have to worry about is us." Randy said as he stood as close to Mickie as he could as the UAN lead ship docked causing the jetty to roll in its wake.

Hope that was worth it oh no what have I done now, well at least they are together.

As ever read and review

Thanks for reading.

XxX


	20. Between the shadows

Hey there I will be putting you out of your misery quickly this time.

I'm not really that cruel. (ok I am but don't tell anyone)

On with the story.

Between the shadows

Mickie and Randy could do nothing but watch as the UAN ships pulled up and out stepped the High commander surrounded by his soldiers.

They knew there was no point in running, where would they go, hiding was ridiculous they would only be found and for now they were the best distracting from the UAN going after Legacy.

Mickie was surprised just how quickly Sambo had been rescued from that Island though, it had barley been two days and here they were standing in front of them a proud smirk on his face as he looked down on her and then across at Randy who was just glaring at him.

"My dear Captain oh how I have missed you." Sambo chided as his soldiers advanced on the rebels and began rounding them up. Sambo had barely taken his eyes off the two Legacy crew members and yet he had not spoken either. He seemed to be thinking about just what he was going to do with them now he had them.

Mickie was getting board at being stared at like a prize cow, not only was Sambo' silence making her mad it was also worrying her. She had never seen him like this, it was mainly the look in his eyes which was sending chills up Mickie's spine even in the oppressive heat of the Hawaiian sun. Glancing at Randy Mickie noticed that he was shifting from foot to foot, restlessly as a couple of guards surrounded them and Mickie could feel that what ever was going to happen was going to happen soon.

Ted was sitting in Mickie's chair, he had been here before, but not with the knowledge that Mickie was not just in her Cabin or on shore leave, now it was his responsibility to get this ship home. He looked around at the crew and he could not ignore the down cast eyes and the way their body's showed their concern for the lost of their Captain and first officer.

"Cody how long until we reach the Island?" Ted asked as Cody turned to look at him and tried to give him a warm smile that just didn't quite reach his eyes.

"About twenty minutes." He said as Ted stood up to look at Ensign Morrison who was now at his tactical station and was checking all the sensors.

"Any sign of pursuit?"

"Nothing since those two ships broke off an hour ago sir, but I'm not ruling anything out." John said as he checked the sonar once more.

"Do you have the D-Ex on sensors yet?" Ted continued fighting the urge to go and look for himself and holding on to the railing that separated the opps and tactical stations from the command deck.

"No but she will be well behind us, I wouldn't expect her to catch up until we are docked." John continued as he too looked up at Ted and the two men locked eyes for a second.

"We are going to try and get them back aren't we sir?" John said after a moment's awkward silence and Ted shook his head.

"I don't know Ensign I just don't know."

Mickie and Randy had been marched on to the High commanders ship, they had been taken down into the brig which was far from sanitary and smelt of old stale vomit.

Mickie had sat herself down on the only bunk in the room while Randy scouted the cell for any weakness they might use to escape from.

It only took Randy five minutes to realise the cell was air tight, he came back over to where Mickie was sitting and perched next to her.

"No luck?" Mickie asked scooting back and leaning her back against the wall with one knee raised and her hands clasped around it.

"No not even an ambitious rat would get out of here." Randy said as they both eyed the steal bars that were so tightly spaced together it was almost a steal wall in front of them. The bars were letting in the only source of light from the corridor which was sparse and casting eerie shadows across their cell and Mickie couldn't help but look at the dancing images that were cast against the far wall as the ship they were on began to move.

"Is it me or is it damm cold in here?" Randy asked after only a few moments and Mickie realised that she hadn't really noticed, her mind had been else where and now that she thought about it she realised that she was having to stop herself from shivering.

"Nope it's cold in here." She said now turning her head to look at him as he came and lent back against the wall next to her.

Randy didn't know what to do, he had been held prisoner before and keeping your prisoners in the cold and dark was a pretty universal tactic for wearing down your prisoners faster. They had not heard anything since they had been brought down into this dungeon and Randy wondered when they would come for them. He looked over at Mickie and for the first time in a long time noticed how small she was.

In the end behind the strength of character, the larger than life persona of a navel Captain they were all just flesh and bone and Mickie was a small woman, and Randy was sure whatever Sambo had in mind for them was not going to be for the good of their health. He could easily over power her and Randy would rather die than see what happened to Beth happen to Mickie.

Mickie felt her eyes growing heavier, they had been sat in the cell alone and cold for hours now, the sip had not stopped and the ride was less than comfortable. Unlike Legacy the Bismarck did not glide through the water but smashed through it causing Mickie and Randy to keep bumping against one another.

Giving up finally Mickie lied down and pulled Randy with her, she was cold and his body was like a solid warm wall. Randy got the idea pretty quickly and he pulled Mickie's body flush against him so his front was pressed against her back.

Mickie did not have the strength to think about compromising positions, or about if this was inappropriate or not. For the past two weeks she had been shot at, knocked about, almost drowned and had only a few decent nights sleep, and now to top it all she had lost her ship. The only consolation was that Legacy was still out there somewhere and hopefully trying to get home.

Randy wrapped his arm around Mickie's stomach and held on tight as the ship continued to roll them around, he couldn't begin to think about sleeping but he soon found that Mickie had gone limp in his arms and her steady breathing was making him feel more relaxed. Closing his eyes randy buried his head in Mickie's hair and inhaled the sent of her shampoo.

"Good night Mickie." Randy whispered in his Captain's ear as he let sleep take over his body.

Mickie awoke to the sounds of screaming.

"What was that?" She said sitting up on the bunk and immediately feeling the cold envelop her.

"I don't know." Randy said unsure as to whether he had dreamt the noise or had really heard it. Before either of them could contemplate the idea further another scream echoed down the corridor. It bounced of the walls of their cell and gave it a eerie quality that sent a shiver right down Mickie's spine.

"Someone just walked over my grave too." Randy said as he saw Mickie tried to suppress the shiver as she got up and walked over to the front of their cell seeing if she could see anything.

Randy walked up behind her, he wanted to placed his hands on her shoulders for support but now back in the light he felt like she had pulled away from him again and so he settled for just standing close to her and following her gaze with his own.

"Do you think they are just trying to drive us insane." Mickie finally said after what seemed like forever and Randy looked down at her a small smirk on his lips.

"I think I was already half way there." He said and Mickie gave him a quick smile and for now Randy would have to settle for that.

Mickie could see nothing beyond the bars and the walls of their cell, they had been given nothing to eat or drink and she was hellish thirsty. She could feel Randy's presence behind her and she wanted to talk to him about a plan, about thinking of anything that might get them out of here but she was uncertain about who might be listening. Sambo had show great foresight in the past and she didn't want to give anything away that might ruin their chances. Right now however escape was impossible, where were they going to go? They were on a ship headed for god knows where and had no way of contacting Legacy. Mickie folded her arms and stared at the wall, she was all out of options for now and she just wished Sambo would come along and just get this all over with.

She was about to get her wish, just as Randy had taken hold of her arm to break her out of the day dream she had fallen into loud foot falls could be heard coming down the stairwell. Mickie snapped her head in the direction of the sound and she squared her shoulders and tipped up her jaw as Sambo plus his guards came into view.

"Captain I trust you slept well." He said a leer on his face and that slimy quality back into his voice.

"As well as can be expected when you cart us around on this rickety old barge." Mickie said distain dripping from her voice. Time for diplomacy and niceties were over and Sambo knew it as soon as he saw the pair of defiant people facing him from behind the bars.

"Very well Captain would you follow me." Sambo said as one of the guards opened the cell door as two rushed in a restrained Randy.

It was so fast the Randy had no time to react, the two UAN guards were big and strong and had him in a stress position at the rear of the cell before he could even blink.

"If you touch her I will kill you." Randy hissed between clenched teeth as the guards yanked his arms back until the muscles in his shoulders screamed in pain.

"I do not see how in your position Commander." Sambo drawled at him as the last remaining guard took Mickie by the upper arm as she walked calmly out of the cell.

To the rest of the world Mickie James looked the epitome of calm. Randy knew her better, he could see her body was ramrod straight and there was a slight tightening of her knuckles as the guard touched her. Mickie knew that now however was not the time to fight back, they were out numbered and in close quarters, the only out come of resistance was going to be pain, their pain, so she went with Sambo quietly and calmly whilst inside she shook with fright and anger mixed together as she heard the cell door close on Randy as he rushed to the bars and called out after her.

"It will be ok Mickie." She heard as she was encouraged up the stairwell and onto the next deck which was light and airy and just as cold as her cell.

Randy didn't know how long he had been left in the cell alone, it felt like days but he knew it could not have been that long. His mind had had plenty of time to wonder and think about what could be happening to Mickie, none of which were very pleasant. Pacing the bars like a caged animal Randy kept glancing at the empty corridor and listening intently hoping not to here screams like the ones that had woken them both up earlier, so far he had hear and seen nothing but the silence was almost worse than the screaming.

Working himself up almost into a sweat Randy gripped on to the bars and placed his head against the cold metal.

"Damm it Mickie what are they doing to you." Randy said knowing that whatever Sambo wanted from Mickie he was not going to get it. He knew that Mickie would die before giving Sambo any information which could endanger Legacy and her crew, he knew it because he felt the same way.

Before randy's thoughts could turn any darker the sounds of the door at the top of the stairwell broke his line of thought and he watched as the shadows descend until Sambo and Mickie held up by a guard came into view. What Randy saw mad him angrier than he ever thought possible.

Mickie had a split lip the blood died and still present on her chin where it had leaked down, the side of her face was puffy and swollen and she was walking with a slight limp.

"What have you done to her your bastards!" Randy yelled as Mickie was pushed into the cell straight into Randy's arms and she hissed at him.

"It's ok Randy I will be fine." She pushed away from him and used the bed as support as she lowered her aching body down on to the hard bed.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size!" Randy said as he stared daggers at Sambo but the man just grinned at him.

"Do not worry Commander your time will come." The high commander said as he tuned away from them and headed back up on to the main deck of the ship.

Randy turned to Mickie and went o her side, he took her face in his hand and examined her wounds even though he could do nothing for them at this time it did make him feel a little better.

"Well will I live?" Mickie said humour colouring her voice and Randy was glad she could still smile even now.

"I'm no Doctor Captain but I would say so." He said smiling back at her but his face soon fell when he saw her wince in pain as she manoeuvred herself up on to the bunk.

Without thinking Randy reached for Mickie's shirt and lifted it revealing the large bruise on hip which went from just below her ribs to somewhere below the waist line of her pants.

"What the hell did they do to you?" Randy said concern and anger in his voice at the same time, but when Mickie looked at him his expression softened immediately.

"Randy we have to face facts unless we get out of here this is not the worst they can do to me." Mickie said as she lent against his shoulder and Randy placed his arm around her in an effort to keep them both warm. She felt like an ice block next to him and he ran his hand up and down her arm gently to try and create some warmth.

"I know and to be honest right now I can't see away out of this." Randy said finally as he watched the shadows fade as the twilight turned into full night and their cell was bathed in darkness once again.

Beth was on Legacy, she had been given a cabin and she was sat on the bed staring at the wall. She knew what happened to UAN prisoners, she would not wish that fate on anyone let alone a woman who had risked her own life to save her. Beth threw open the door and walked along the corridor towards the lift.

As the doors opened Beth looked down on the small but fiery engineer she had been introduced to and Beth gave her a limp smile.

"You too a?" Melina said as Beth went to push the button for the bridge but saw the light was already illuminated.

"I guess so." Beth said her smile growing as Melina lent back against the wall and waved her cast in the air.

"We have to go save them and between us I think the Lieutenant commander will have no choice but to agree." Melina said as the lift doors opened and Beth and Melina stepped out shoulder to shoulder.

Ted turned around at the intrusion on the bridge and swallowed hard, he was so in trouble now.

Hope you enjoyed that I am working hard to update when I can as things are still pretty hectic for me, you will have to suffer with slightly shorter chapters perhaps, but I have a long one planned soon so don't hit me.

Thanks for reading.

XxX


	21. Shattered mirror

Mucho apologies for the delay in updates, people getting sick and not going to work is the blame for it this time.

Quick note:

The following chapter contains material not suitable for younger viewers, so parental units you have been warned.

On with the show.

Shattered mirror

Randy was in a room which could have come out of any S and M club, and they would have been proud of it. He was strapped down on a large table, flat on his stomach, his head twisted painfully to the side so his nose didn't get mashed in to the table and so he could breathe.

His shirt had been stripped off and he was blindfolded, Randy sucked in air though his nostrils as he tried to breath through the pain of the last lash that connected with his back. Randy didn't see what Sambo had decided to hit him with but it felt like some kind of bull whip.

"Tell me how to find Legacy!" Sambo demanded as he watched the lashes he had already applied to Randy start to trickle blood. He had underestimated the resilience of both the Captain and her first officer, so far they had not spoken one word to him, unless it was to offer a profanity. Sambo walked around the table and looked down at Randy's face, it was pinched with pain and his breathing was hitching slightly. He was shivering Sambo had kept the temperature in the room low as he himself had worked up a sweat lashing Randy with the whip.

"You know you could end all this now, I can give you something to drink, a hot bath and some nice food, all you have to tell me is where to find them." Sambo was almost whispering in Randy's ear now and Randy had to fight back the urge not to spit in Sambo's face which he knew was very close.

"You might as well kill me now, I won't tell you anything." Randy hissed as the sharp pain coming from his back was becoming duller and his senses started to return.

Sambo stood up straight and whipped Randy across his broad back once more, he then swung the lash again and carved another line though his skin. This time Randy arched up trying to fight off the pain but no comfort was coming. It was true though Randy would die before telling Sambo anything, he was fighting consciousness now as the whip landed for a third time, this time it tore his pants away from his upper thigh and a new hurt almost brought him back alert.

Losing his battle to stay awake Randy's body grew limp and Sambo panted beside him and looked down on the lifeless body.

"Damm it take him back!" Sambo ordered, no amount of torture would get and unconscious man to talk. The guards came in and dragged Randy between them back to his cell.

"Ladies please" Ted said holding his hands out palms up trying to prevent both women raging at him at once.

"I know we all want the Captain and Commander back, me included, but we can't just go storming up there and demand it can we." Ted said trying to reason with them both as they sat and looked at him from the other side of the desk as if he had just laid and egg.

"Yes we do!" Melina said she had had enough with this damm world and its rules and now she wanted some pay back.

"He is right though." Beth said breathing out her reply finally willing to concede that one ship although powerful was no match for the armada that Sambo had brought with him.

"This is going to take planning if we are going to pull it off." Beth said getting up and starting to pace the small room, both sets of eyes from the Legacy crew were on her but she had no idea they were looking at her for she was deep in thought.

"That's if we can even find them, they could be half way to Australia by now." Ted said still watching as the tall blonde placed her hands behind her back and walked to and throw.

"We can find them, we have the best sensors literally on Earth and I can tweak them to give us more." Melina said now turning back to Ted who was leaning forward at the desk with his eyebrow raised.

"Beth could you stop your making me dizzy." Ted said finally placing one hand on his temple and rubbing at the headache forming behind his eyes.

"Oh yes sorry I tend to do that when I am thinking, oh and as for finding them I know where they are going." Beth said as though that bit of information was not important at the moment but Melina almost jumped on her.

"What how do you know that, why didn't you tell us before?" Grabbing Beth by the shoulders Melina looked at Beth, after the incident with her brother she was not so inclined to trust people and as she looked in to Beth's blue unguarded gaze Melina softened her expression.

"Because they took me there, to Egypt there is a prison there for POW's it is designed to break you and once you have been suitably broken you are moved to a ship to serve, I suspect the high Commander is trying to get Mickie and Randy to tell him how to make and use your technology, I don't expect they will give him the answers easily." Beth said turning to look at Ted and he was shocked by the knowing look in this young woman's eyes.

"So how do we rescue our people?" Ted said sitting down and feeling like the world was waiting for him to answer his own question but the room remained silent as they looked from one to the other for the answers.

Randy awoke to look at a pair of very familiar brown eyes. He squinted against the pain in his back as he saw the face smile back at him although it was still blurry around the edges he licked his dry lips and spoke.

"Captain." Randy felt a hand on his cheek as Mickie ran her fingers across his face and though his short hair.

"It's ok Randy I am here." He hushed him but he still tried to sit up, it hurt to lye on his back like this and he must have been pretty heavy with him half lying on her like he was.

Mickie sighed and helped Randy sit up she could see all of the marks on his back as they had not bothered to put his shirt back on and she winced once more as she saw they were weeping and swollen. As Randy turned on his side on the bed he looked back up at Mickie who then jumped off the bed.

"They brought us water, I used some of it to clean your wounds but there is plenty to drink." She said snatching up the canister and offering it to Randy. He eyed it suspiciously, it wasn't a large container it was about half full and if she had cleaned his wounds she would not have had much to drink herself.

"You have some first, I am ok." Randy croaked out his voice betraying just how dry he actually was. Mickie took the canister and tilted it back, taking only a little but pretending like she had had a good drink she handed it back to Randy who still looked at it suspiciously.

"I will make it an order if I have to Commander." Mickie finally said in her best Captain's voice and it was enough to get Randy swallowing the cool liquid.

Not finishing it off completely Randy replaced the cap and lent heavily on his left arm keeping the weight from his back and so he could look at Mickie. Her face was still pretty swollen and when she smiled it looked kind of distorted, her eye had gone a horrible purple colour and Randy was sure the bruise on her ribs was probably the same. She seemed fine other than that though, she was not limping quite so much and the smile on her face when she looked at him seemed pretty genuine.

"How long?" Randy said finally as Mickie perched on the end of the bunk next to his feet.

"A while you had me pretty worried for a moment there." She said giving his calf a brief gentle pat before removing her hand and wrapping her arms around herself once more. Randy hadn't noticed but it was once again dark, the light that was coming in was from the bulb in the corridor out side of their room. His eyes had obviously gotten used to being kept in the low lights or none at all.

Randy pushed the thought of that whip out of his mind and tried to comfort himself with the thought that Mickie had not yet had to go though that. Yet being the operative word, Randy was sure that the next time Sambo came for Mickie it would be to strap her to that table.

Sitting up quicker than he should have done Randy hissed through the pain as Mickie was at his side in a second.

"You have to lie still Randy your wounds are not closing properly and you don't want to risk infection." Mickie said as she tried to lower him back on to his side but Randy was having none of it.

"Mickie if Sambo takes you if it is too much." He couldn't complete the sentence, he knew Mickie would never tell Sambo anything and he didn't want her too, yet he couldn't help but wanting to keep her from getting hurt as well.

"Randy I know you want to protect me, but you know I can't tell him anything, no matter what." Mickie said as though she was reading his mind. Taking hold of her fingers he noticed just how icy her hands were and he rubbed her hand in an effort to warm them up. He also noted that he did not feel so cold, and his head was still swimming like when he had first woken up. Knowing the early signs of infection Randy made a note to ask Mickie to clean his back again before morning.

"You should get some rest." Mickie said placing her hand on his shoulder once more and this time Randy went with her guidance. He did not realise just how tired he was until he was horizontal once more and this time not lying on his painful back. He allowed his eyes to slip closed and felt Mickie as she moved in next to him and positioned herself in the natural bend in his body. Moving his arm to wrap around her he pulled her in flush against his body, at first she stiffened against him then he felt her slowly relax in his now familiar embrace.

Mickie was like a cat getting disturbed by something in its sleep. She lept out of the bed and was crouched beside the door in the only spot where she had decided no one could see her, as soon as she had heard the door open to their dungeon. She slowed her breathing and pressed her back firmly against the damp freezing wall as the foot falls came ever closer down the metal stairwell. Glancing at Randy preying he wouldn't wake up and give her position away she felt her muscles tense as she could almost smell their sour smelling sweat as they got closer.

It was a smell that now haunted Mickie's dreams, when she had been in that chamber with Sambo tied to a lone chair in the centre he had gotten very close to her, and all she could do was smell his sent, now it was fuelling her desire to escape from the hell and she clenched her fists at her side.

"Wakey Wakey rise and shine!" One of the guards said as the other one chuckled but both stopped abruptly as Randy did not stir and Mickie was no where to be seen.

"Damm it she's gone what the hell are we supposed to tell the Commander?" One of them said as a small smile crossed Mickie's face but was gone an instant later.

"How could she have gone the door is still locked?" The other man said as he placed his key in the lock and began turning the key.

"Hold on what if she is hiding waiting to attack us?" The second guard said, the one who had tried to wake them up when they had first arrived.

"Where a crack in the wall?"

The lock finally clacked back as the guard opened the door slowly as the first walked forward and came in to Mickie's field of vision.

Waiting trying not to give away her position Mickie pressed herself flat against the wall ignoring something that scurried across her arm and up towards her shoulder she paused waiting for the second guard to make an appearance.

She didn't have to wait long the second guard was smaller than the first, he was over weight but short and Mickie doubted that he could run very fast.

Sucking in a last gasp of air Mickie launched herself at the second guard, both were to stunned to move at first as Mickie crashed down on to the shorter guard and sent him to the floor with a hard smack to the back of the head. Snatching his gun from his waist band Mickie darted towards the door. The first and taller guard who looked like he could outrun her was bent over Randy. He whirled on Mickie and snarled at her like a lion as she lept for the doorway.

Dogging back from the guards snatching hand Mickie realised that all she had to do now was run. She was right next to the open door and both guards were still stumbling over one another to get to her.

"Stop!" Mickie said as she stepped back out side the cell and showed them she would lock them in if they moved. Both guards quit moving and looked from one to the other.

"I will let you both out, and I will get back inside if you get me medicine for my Commander." Mickie said and both guards looked suddenly puzzled.

"What if we don't you will be caught and put back in here any way." The short man sneered at her still rubbing at the back of his head.

"I bet the high Commander will not be too happy if he knows you let me escape, in fact I might just say you let me out." Mickie smirked at them as both men suddenly paled in the stark light coming from the windows high above them.

"Ok how do you want to do this?" Said the taller of the two guards as he looked behind him to see Randy rolling restlessly on the bunk in the grips of a fever.

"One of you can go upstairs and get the medicine make up something I don't care what while the other one stays locked in there. When I get the medicine I will let the other one go."

"How do we know you won't just run away?"

"Because if I wanted to do that I would have already done it." Mickie smiled brandishing the gun at them and motioning the short plump man to come forward.

It only took the guard ten minutes to come back with the antibiotics Randy desperately needed, Mickie snatched them out of the man's hands waving him off with the gun as he let the second guard out. Going back into the cell herself Mickie reluctantly tossed the gun back to them knowing if she kept it Sambo would likely know something had gone on and would take the medicine from them.

"You know for someone so smart you are such a fool." One of the guards said but Mickie did not look around to see which one as she propped up Randy's head and made him swallow the tablet with the little water they had left and hopped it would be enough to make him better. Stashing the rest of the tablets in a crag in the wall Mickie once again stood up as she heard the sounds of men approaching her cell once more.

Ted sat on the bride of Legacy he stared out at the ocean and watched as the sun poked above the horizon. He had not been to bed, he knew that he would not have been able to sleep, he looked over to the command chair next to him and at the blonde vale of hair that partially coved the face of the newest member of their crew. Beth had fallen asleep a few hours ago and Ted didn't have the heart to wake her. She had been up talking with Melina Cody and the other senior staff about possible ways to get Mickie and Randy back. It was agreed that they would have to act soon as if Mickie and Randy reached Egypt before they could catch up to them then they would have a slim chance of getting them out.

Ted looked down at her peaceful face, it seemed as if for a moment she had no worries and no fears and it took years off usually haunted face. Ted had only heard limited talk about what happened to Beth when she was a prisoner of the UAN but what he had heard had made his blood run cold. Looking at her now he could hardly believe that she was even this well adjusted and still willing to risk her own life to save two people she hardly knew.

Ted turned his head as Cody re appeared on the bridge, Ted had ordered them to two hours sleep before they set off after the Bismarck as they had all been up for nearly 24 hours and if they lost this battle because they were tired no one would forgive themselves.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Ted whispered as Cody sat down in his chair and swivelled to face Ted.

"No, I glad she managed to get some shut eye though." Cody said pointing to Beth but keeping his voice low.

"Yeah I don't think we are going to be able to do this without her." Ted replied as Mike and John came on to the bridge.

"God is the whole ship awake?" Ted said in a harsh whisper as Beth stirred and yawned fluttering her eyes open.

"Guess so sir!" John replied as they gave Cody and Beth a smile as Beth just gave them a small wave in return.

"I guess we go now then." Ted said sitting up straighter in his chair and Cody fired up the engines.

"This is commander Debasie to all hands Battle stations."

Mickie had never been so cold in her life, water trickled down her sides and off the end of her nose. She was shackled to the wall cuffs holding her hands way above her head and her feet were held in chains to the side, although her feet were barely touching the floor and her shoulders were screaming in agony at the pressure of holding her own body up right.

She was stood near an opening as icy wind licked at her wet body as Sambo skulked around her. Mickie kept her eyes on the floor and refused to talk as she had done since they had escorted her from the cell.

"I can make it colder if you would like, I'm sure these boys wouldn't have any objection to getting rid of some layers." Sambo said as he put down the bucket that had contained the sea water which was now all over Mickie as she came forwards and sliced off Mickie's shirt.

Mickie made no move to protest or cry out, she did not want to look at the faces of these men and she certainly did not want to see Sambo's eyes.

"Very nice Captain, now I could get you a new shirt, a nice dry warm one if you like. All you have to do is tell me how your sensors work." Sambo said as he ran the knife up between her breasts and pressed the blade into her solar plexus until the skin gave way and a small drop of blood ran down towards her stomach.

Mickie closed her eyes and tried to keep her breathing calm, she thought about home, about her mom making key lime pie on a Sunday morning, then about her father who was so aloof yet secretly proud of her. She had seen him shed a tear when he was informed of her promotion to Captain and she knew then that she could handle the Legacy and it's crew for sure.

Mickie was snapped back to reality as the blade cut into her skin, it sliced across her shoulder cutting it way down her chest and across the top of her breast.

Sambo dragged the blade slowly, he watched as Mickie's eyes re focused on the room and indicated to one of the guards for another bucket of water.

As the icy liquid hit Mickie once more it set her whole body on fire and the cut across her chest was making it hard to breathe.

"All you have to do is answer Captain and this will all stop." Sambo whispered to her once more but Mickie remained silent.

Hey hope it was worth the wait, its getting pretty intense now it hard to get the tone right when dealing with torture I hope this was ok and no one has been sick.

As ever all feedback is welcome.

Thank you for reading. XxX


	22. Love among the ruins

Look I am back only one day break, insert round of applause.

Another warning for this chapter I am afraid, but I hope you would have expected that seeing as where I left it last time. Kiddies you have been warned.

Love among the ruins

Mickie didn't realise she had passed out but she could not remember being moved. She allowed her eyes to flutter open to the sight of the ceiling of her cell. Sitting up quickly and ignoring the pain in her body Mickie looked around for Randy. Spotting him where she had left him on the bunk Mickie hauled herself off the cold damp floor and hobbled on her one good leg towards the bunk.

Hissing as the cut in her chest protested at being moved Mickie clutched the side of the bunk and reached out with one hand and felt Randy's forehead. It still felt warm to the touch but he seemed less sweaty.

Going over to where she had stashed the antibiotics Mickie woke Randy enough to get him to swallow one. Realising that she needed to get his fever down and that she was probably hypothermic there was an obvious solution.

Climbing over the top of Randy with considerable effort Mickie positioned herself between him and the wall. Wrapping herself around him she pressed her chilled body to his touching him everywhere she could.

He was warm too warm really but she was now able to feel her own skin, she knew that neither of them could last like this indefinitely, not able to think of anything but how cold she was at this point though Mickie closed her eyes and rested her head in the crook of Randy's shoulder and listened to the sound of his heart beating and it lulled her back in to unconsciousness.

The senior staff what was left of them any way were gathered around the meeting table. Beth was there too staring out of the window as the ocean rushed past below them and not listening to a word anyone was saying.

"What do you think Beth?" Cody questioned her, briefly touching her arm and bringing her out of the daydream.

"Sorry I wasn't listening." She said honestly which earned her a chuckle from Melina on her left and Beth gave her a brief smile.

"We said we can find them then wait until dark, and do a scoop and run assault." Cody reiterated for her and Beth frowned and then nodded her head slightly.

"It wont work, they are probably travelling with several other ships, we wouldn't even make it on to the Bismarck before we were blow out of the water." All the other officers looked at the blonde and their faces fell. She was right, there was no way they could just waltz up to the high commanders ship and get on board.

"There is only one way were are going to get you Captain and Commander back and that is to make a deal with Sambo." Beth continued now looking directly at Ted who's face fell as the words left her lips and he started to shake his head.

"No way we cannot allow him to become more powerful." Ted began but he was cut off by Beth raising her hand and silencing him.

"You wont be, I will go and trade myself for Mickie and Randy, he has wanted me from the moment he found out about what I could do for him. I suspect neither Mickie or Randy have given him the information he wants or we would have been surrounded by UAN ships by now. If I offer myself and my knowledge to him he might agree upon the exchange."

All eyes fell on Beth a mixed reaction was on their faces, disbelief was the most common feature but Beth had been expecting this.

"We can't let you do that, there is no way, we have to think of something else." Ted said almost immediately and Beth noticed that there were several nods of agreement.

"Look once I am on board and Mickie and Randy are back with you I will blow the ship. I have no desire to ever be taken by Sambo again, maybe if I kill him there will be some time before the UAN can regroup and with Legacy as an equalizer we might even have a chance at peace. I have fought my whole life for freedom and I have now seen the best and the worst of human nature, my own brother was coerce into helping them and yet Mickie and Randy were willing to save me and risk their own lives. I am very much willing to die to help get them back to you and take that evil bastard Sambo with me." Venom dripped from Beth's voice as she finished her sentence and even Ted had to lean back in his chair. He was caught between a rock and a hard place here. On one hand Beth's plan would probably work, however there was no way in hell he would send her or anyone else on this crew to their deaths.

"Ok lets start with this plan and try and think of away where no one has to die." Ted said leaning forward on the table and scanning his staff until Cody finally spoke up.

"What if I took Beth in the D-ex, I could say we were willing to make an exchange, they will be less on alert if Legacy is not there, I can say I was defecting that I had split from Legacy because they wouldn't trade." Cody said his excitement was catching on.

"I could rig the D-ex with a time delay explosive, once you have got on to the ship you could set it off. I could give you up to half an hour, plenty of time for Legacy to come in and get you guys out." Melina continued and Ted could finally see a plan beginning to form, he just hopped it would not be too late for their missing crew members.

Randy didn't know what was happening to him, he barely remembered the last few days and now he could feel himself being hauled up by two rather unsympathetic guards. Randy caught sight of Mickie who had been thrown over a guards shoulder and she looked as though she was still pretty out of it and that snapped Randy out of his semi unconscious state.

"Where the hell are you taking us!" He demanded as he tried to struggle against his captors but he was still week and not match for them.

"I think hell would pretty much sum it up." One of the guards smiled as Randy's face paled once more thinking of that torture chamber and what had happened last time.

Looking back at Mickie's prone form bouncing on the man shoulder he noticed that she was very pale her lips were almost blue and she had no shirt on. Randy gasped realising that they had probably taken Mickie while he was gripped with fever and from the looks of it beaten her pretty badly.

He growled low in his throat as he was shoved through an open doorway and to his surprise it was a shower room. Mickie was thrown in after him and as she skidded across the floor she began to waken.

"Randy?" She questioned as he helped her up into a sitting position and she got her first good look around her.

"Where are we?" She questioned using Randy for support she stood up and almost fell straight back down again.

"Steady Mickie." Randy said holding her tightly and noticing the cut across her chest for the first time. It was pretty deep and pretty swollen. Randy had to stop himself from reaching out and touching it as he saw her look around at the shower room they had been thrown into and refusing to meet his eyes.

"I guess they decided that if they still want information out of us they will have to at least keep us conscious." Mickie said her voice had a hard edge as she walked over to the shower unit and caught herself in the mirror as she walked past.

Gasping at the fact that she was shirtless Mickie turned to Randy who was trying his best not to look at her only gave Mickie the feeling that he had probably been looking when she had been distracted. She decided that she didn't mind really and the thought did not strike her as odd. Sambo's gaze was disturbing in so many ways, but when Randy looked at her she could only feel warmth coming off his gaze and she felt cold and alone without it.

Walking over to him she placed her hand on his arm and caught his attention.

"I am glad you are feeling better." She said her voice soft and Randy couldn't help but look down at her.

"Me too I have a feeling you had something to do with that." He said a ghost of a smile crossing his face, but he did not have the courage to ask exactly what she did to get him the medicine he had required.

"Believe me it was nothing, now shall we get on with this, I for one am dying to get warm and clean and who know how long they are going to give us in here." Mickie said turning towards one of the cubicles and realising there were no towels.

Randy had noticed the same thing and he was eyeing his trousers, he knew that if he got them wet they would be useless in providing him with any heat once he put them back on.

"I guess I can drip dry." Mickie said turning on the shower and placing her hand under the spray waiting for it to heat up.

"What is up with this thing." She said after a few minutes and Randy came over and tried the shower next door.

"This one is only giving cold water as well." He said as they returned to the centre of the room and looked at one another.

"I guess this was not the blessing in disguise we thought it was." Mickie said as she looked down to the floor and then raised her gaze to meet Randy's once more and she saw the look of concern in his eye's.

"Mickie we should wash your cut and my back." He said finally looking down briefly at Mickie's chest and Mickie couldn't help the colour that suddenly appeared on her cheeks.

"I know but I don't really want another soaking in cold water." Mickie said wrapping her arms around herself fending off the shiver that crept up her spine. Randy chose not to ask about her reference to a previous soaking but he walked around the room and finally found several crusty looking sponges in a sink.

Going over to the shower and turning it on he rinsed them out as best he could, until the water ran clear and he could no longer see any mould on the sponge.

"Come here." He said as almost a whisper and Mickie complied going over to him so that he could clean her knife wound. The water was cold but he was so gentle that she didn't mind. His fingers occasionally bushed her chest and it made her heart flutter at the warm contact of his skin.

Once he was done Randy turned so that Mickie could clean his back, he was trying so hard not to think about the soft hand she had placed on his shoulder to keep him still and he was certainly trying not to think of how soft and supple the skin on her chest had been.

Grateful he now had his back to her Randy bowed his head and let Mickie sooth his aching back. The soothing motions of Mickie's hands were lulling him to sleep as the door was pushed open and in strode four guards and Randy was angry at them for interrupting their moment but there was nothing he could do about it.

Walking with the guards knowing that there was no point in struggling Randy was not surprised when they were taken back to their cell. Mickie had been right Sambo was no fool, he knew that if he wanted to continue questioning them he would have to keep them alive. Randy was almost at the irony at their situation they had healed each other only for Sambo to hurt them again.

Setting down in the now familiar positions with Mickie tucked against his chest Randy let his thoughts drift to those of the woman lying in his arms and how he was going to have to get them out of this just so he could feel her soft hands on him once more.

Cody was looking at the blonde in the seat next to him, she had been pretty quite since they had started work modifying the D-ex. They had soon realised that carrying a bomb on themselves to plant on Sambo's ship was bound to fail as they would be searched for weapons. Instead they had come up with a way to make the D-ex one huge missile. They didn't want to loose the ship, but they wanted to loose their officers even less. The D-ex would be the perfect distraction for the high commander whilst Legacy snuck in the back door.

Beth stood up finally stretching the kinks out of her back and looking at Cody and giving him a smile.

"I think we are done." She said and Cody nodded checking over his repairs on the engines and he was happy that the ship would not only be faster than it had been before but he had even managed to with Melina's help increase its sensor range by ten miles.

"How close do you want to get?" Cody questioned as they boarded the D-Ex and Beth shrugged her shoulders taking the seat next to him and Cody glanced over at her as she ran a systems check.

He had to admire this woman, she had barely been shown the D-ex and it's systems and she was already operating them like a pro, it was no wonder Sambo wanted her and her brain, with someone like Beth working for him Sambo would be able to take complete control of the oceans and the rebel movement would probably be stopped altogether.

"Rhodes to Legacy we are ready commander." Cody said into the radio as Ted's voice could be heard clearly over the comm. System.

"Cleared for launch Mr Rhodes and remember once you are out of here we will maintain radio silence, can't have them thinking they are walking into a trap now ca we." Cody could here the smile in Ted's voice and both he and Beth grinned at each other at the thought of their plan.

"No we can't Commander once we have gained access to the Bismarck we will send the single for you to come and join us." Cody said as the bow doors opened and Cody launched the D-ex into the water.

"Good luck." Ted replied as he watched his sensors as the small ship submerged and went on its way to rendezvous with the Bismarck. They were banking on Beth being right about their ultimate destination and hoping they were not already to late.

Cody was already sending out the signal so that any UAN ships would spot them, its what they wanted but Cody couldn't help the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. If Beth was feeling the same thing then she wasn't showing it. In a lot of ways Beth reminded him of the Captain, they were both strong confident women that had a great mind behind that impeccable beauty, but where Mickie's confidence came from loyalty and being uncannily right all of the time, Beth had been forced into it by her circumstances, all she knew was hardship and Cody had the overwhelming urge to hug her at times.

This was not one of them however as Beth looked at him and placed her hand on his arm as a shoal of fish swam past the window.

"We will make this work Cody even if it is my plan that we have to use, we will get Mickie and Randy back." Cody swallowed hard, he knew his orders, ted had told him that under no circumstances was he to leave Beth behind, he wondered if he could make the choice between Beth and Mickie and Randy. He realised there was no decision here. Either they all got home, or one of them did, that included the high commander.

Mickie had not been able to go back to sleep once they were back in their cell, she listened as Randy's breathing evened out and she felt his body slacken next to her. Every time she closed her eyes she was sure they were going to come for them, drag them out of the cell and chain her once more to the wall. Or worse only take Randy and he would come back half dead again and she would have to make another attempt to save him.

The light grew brighter as the dawn came and Mickie realised for the first time that they were no longer moving. Sometime she had no clue when the Bismarck had stopped and only the sound of the ocean could be heard beyond their cell. Listening intently Mickie could here nothing, it was an eerie silence though and the light of the day was brining her no comfort.

So far Sambo had allowed them to sleep at night time, probably retiring to bed himself and now the day was approaching again he was likely to come back for them.

Mickie swore that this time she would try to escape even if she and Randy only got as far as being shot it would be better than this, she already suspected what would be coming next, that she would not enter the chamber alone and that Randy would be brought in to. There was no way that Sambo did not realise just how protective of each other they were and using one against the other was the natural progression of things.

When the door finally opened and four guards stepped in Mickie was not prepared for what happened next.

Ok I am bad, but you know me by now. I would just like to point out that in almost every fic I have written I have killed off my characters, now 22 chapters in everyone is still alive. I must be getting soft in my old age.

As ever any feed back is gratefully received and reviews make me write quicker because I want more reviews. (not that I am greedy or anything )


	23. Rise from the ashes

Hey look I'm updating quickly so please don't hate me.

Extra special thank you for all your lovely reviews, I have to say AU's are not everyone cup of tea, they weren't mine until I started writing one. I was thinking I could change a few names around and get this published, but then I thought no one would buy it when they can read it for free. Oh hum I can still dream

I will now put you out of some of your misery.

Rise from the ashes

Mickie had barely raised her self from the bunk when four guards were upon them, Randy was trying the struggle but they were holding him down pretty tight. Mickie's eyes flashed in disbelief when another man came at them with a needle.

"Get that away from me!" Mickie yelled as the tip of the fine needle pressed into her cold skin.

She saw the man do the same to Randy and the guards kept him as still as possible while the unknown clear liquid was shot into his vein.

Mickie's attention was drawn away from Randy by the appearance of Sambo in the door way. His face held a satisfied smile and he had his arms crossed in front of him and he was not breaking the eye contact he had with the Legacy Captain.

"What have you given us?" Mickie said in a low dangerous voice but it only caused the dark man in the doorway to broaden his smile further.

"You will see, bring them." Sambo said turning on his heel, the black cloak he was wearing flowing out behind him as he strode ahead of the guards who were virtually dragging Mickie and Randy with them.

Dragging Mickie buy the armpits the guards pushed her in to the chamber she had been in before, it was still dimly lit but her eyes wouldn't focus properly. Shaking her head to try and clear the fog in her brain she found that it did little to clear her vision and she was soon strapped once again to the wall.

"Take him to the poll." Sambo ordered as they walked Randy passed the table and he staggered as they forced his arms behind him and tied him securely to a large wooden poll that was directly facing Mickie.

Randy couldn't see her properly though his eyes wouldn't focus on anything and his head was spinning. He blinked a few times and tried to shake off the feeling of dizziness but it was not helping, whatever Sambo had given them it was starting to take effect.

"Now you will answer my questions, we will have a quick test." Sambo said coming close to Mickie, it felt like Sambo was right inside her head and the feeling was almost overwhelming. She was starting to realised the drug that they had been given was probably sodium pentothal, truth serum, but she was to dizzy to think about it properly.

"What is your middle name Captain?" Sambo asked and the answer just fell from her lips without any control.

"Laree." Mickie couldn't believe how compelled she was to say it how she was unable to control the answer spilling from her lips and now she knew they were in serious trouble.

"Good girl now your turn Mr Orton, what is your fathers name?"

Randy had the same feeling as Mickie the words were coming out of his mouth before he had a chance to stop them and he saw the grin on Sambo's face appear.

"Bob, damm it!" Randy managed to take out his frustration by biting down on his lip it seemed to relieve the for in his brain some what also.

"Good good, I don't know why I didn't think of this before, now we have limited time Miss James tell me where Legacy is."

His voice was like a soft whisper in her brain, she could feel the answer bubbling up her throat, she clamped her teeth together in an effort to stop it coming out of her mouth, and even in her drugged state she knew she must not answer the question. Biting her tongue hard enough to make it bleed Mickie felt the fog start to lift some what and she kept her mouth closed and raised her eyes to meet Sambo's.

"Tell me!" He yelled at her striking her across the face with the whip causing her face to feel like it was on fire.

Mickie barely reacted and she could see that Sambo was getting increasingly angry. The pain from her now numbing face was also doing wonders for her inebriation, she felt like she had more control of her self now but Randy did not so alert and Sambo had realised this fact. Turning towards Randy he walked up to his ear and almost whispered to him.

"Where is Legacy Randy?" the high commander said as he swung the whip to and throw just behind him.

Randy bit on the words, he looked up and caught Mickie's eyes, they were flashing in the dull light and her face was smeared with the blood that had come from her wound. Feeling anger Randy growled and strained against his ropes. Daring not to say anything in case he accidently answered Sambo's question he settled for struggling against his restraints.

"Damm it answer me!" Sambo screamed as he brought the lash down on Randy's chest not one but twice causing a large gash to open up just under his nipple and Mickie had to look away.

Randy hissed through the pain but he refused to scream, there was no way he was going to give Sambo that satisfaction again and Randy allowed himself a small smirk as the pain subsided.

"Sir you cannot use the whip too much, the pain and adrenaline will cause them to overcome the dugs effects quicker." The man who had injected them said but Mickie already knew that. 'too late' she thought as Sambo circled Randy then walked back over to Mickie clutching hold of her chin and forcing her to look at him.

"What about you I can do this all day you will tell me what I want to know." He said as Mickie met his gaze and curled one side of her mouth up in a sneer.

"You will never get the answers you're looking for out of me, I am quite willing to die for my ship and my crew." Mickie said as Sambo turned towards Randy.

"What about him can you stand there and watch his pain would you sacrifice your boyfriend just so you don't loose your ship?" Sambo said and Mickie could see the cogs turning in Sambo's brain, Mickie had been waiting for this she had been expecting it and she knew exactly what her answer would be.

"Randy would sooner give his life than see you with the power of Legacy at your disposal, you forget high commander that I am a Captain I have many people that are depending on me not just my first officer, to let him live for my crew to die would not be an exchange either of us would be willing to make." Mickie said now looking at Randy who's expression had softened at her words and he was nodding his head slowly in agreement.

"Miss James you are forgetting there are far worse fates than death." Sambo said turning to Randy and ordering one guard over.

"Strip him!" The guard looked pleased at the order and Mickie bulked slightly unsure as to what was going to happen next.

Randy stood there allowing the guard to strip him, there was nothing he could do anyway. He knew Mickie would be looking at him but he kind of needed her to, if she turned from him now he would feel abandoned.

"Tie him to the table!" Sambo ordered, this time Randy did fight, but the lack of sleep, cold, drugs and not to mention the latest lashing had rendered him week and he was pushed belly first on to the table. Pushing his head to the side once more so he could still breath he heard Mickie gasp behind him as the distinct sound of trousers being undone could be heard in the now silent room.

"Cody stop there is a UAN ship directly above us." Beth said, they had been travelling for hours now, and had not seen a single ship. It was unusual, this area was normally a well travelled area. UAN patrol ships were often cruising these waters looking for rebels but today the ocean was as quite as a lake in the middle of winter and Beth had been wondering if something was happening that they didn't know about.

"Has it spotted us?" Cody asked looking at the blip on his radar and seeing that the ship was stationary above them.

"They have probably picked up the signal but can't work out where it is coming from." Beth said hitting the switch and turning off the automated call.

"What are you doing?" Cody said as Beth turned to him a crooked smile on her face and Cody stopped the D-Ex and watched his sensors and saw that the ship above them was still just bobbing around in the ocean.

"I have a new better plan." Beth said finally and Cody felt some of the tension leave the sub.

"We are going to steal that ship, then we can sail right up to the Bismarck, they will let us right on board no question's asked, much safer than trying to get on Sambo's good side." Beth continued smiling at Cody and her smile seemed infectious as the corners of the young pilots mouth crept up.

"But how we are only two people they will have us out manned surely." He said as Beth turned to examine their tactical status.

"That is a small cargo ship, it has limited weapons and probably and inexperienced crew, we can take them easily, its what us rebels have been doing for years, with a heck of a lot less that this machine." Beth said patting the D-Ex affectionately.

"Beth has anyone ever told you, you are a genius?" Cody said starting up the engines once more and giving Beth a wink over his shoulder.

"Many times, I think that's how I got into this mess in the first place." She said as she scurried to the aft compartment and Cody heard some banging about.

"What are you doing?" Cody asked as the ship began its assent to the unknowing UAN ship above.

"Making a remote detonator." Beth called back and Cody was confused.

"What for?"

"The bomb, once we are on Sambo's she we will need him to think we can blow him up at any second, or he will shoot us on site." Beth said coming back with a plain silver box with a single button in the middle of it. A crude areal stuck out of the top and Cody had to raise his eyebrows.

"Lets go steal us a ship." Beth said sitting back down in the tactical chair and arming the weapons.

The D-Ex rose about forty feet from the small cargo ship, Cody kept the D-0Ex facing the ship as Beth sent a warning shot across their bow. The cargo ship tried to run at first but Cody kept up easily as Beth put a small hole in their starboard side well above the water line.

"Well a little bit of a battle scar will help our story." She said as the ship finally stopped and Cody sailed the D-Ex in to their loading dock.

Beth had been right it was a small ship, barely three times the size of the D-Ex and was crewed by only eight men. One of whom was badly burned as he was working in the area the missile had hit.

Beth and Cody climbed out of the D-Ex brandishing their guns and were met with little resistance. These were kids they were probably on their first mission and they raised their hands as Beth and Cody escorted them to the mess hall and locked them in.

"Wow that was too easy." Cody said as Beth climbed the stairs on to the bridge.

"I know the UAN obviously think these people are expendable and loosing these ships to them is nothing but a drop in the ocean, when we get them however we turn them into mini battle cruisers and are invaluable to us." Beth said sitting at the navigational station while Cody took the helm.

"Now where?" Cody said as they did not have a clue where the Bismarck was, it was becoming pretty obvious that they had not gone to Egypt or they would have caught up with them by now.

"I think I know what Sambo is doing, he wants to find Legacy, that is why there is no activity here, they are all back where we started." Beth said turning on the aft sensors but getting little more thank back ground noise.

"Do you think they told him where to find us?" Cody said not believing what he was saying.

"I hope not, wouldn't matter if they did anyway Ted has moved Legacy now so if they did show up at the Island all they are going to find is an empty space."

Beth said as she got a small blip on the screen.

"Come about Cody I have something." Beth said as Cody did a she asked, this ship was capable of only 25 not's slow compared to Legacy and much bumpier.

"I have sent out a priority signal, letting them know we have important information, if any one is listening they will respond." Beth said as Cody checked his readings once more and saw that they were indeed headed straight back the way they had come.

It was not skill but luck, finding themselves in the mist of an armada Beth and Cody pulled the cargo vessel to a stop and contacted the Bismarck.

"State you rank and colour." The voice of one of the UAN soldiers came over the radio it was not Sambo.

"I am Lieutenant Will smith and I am black." Cody said shrugging his shoulders at Beth who was giving him a scowl. Letting go of the radio talk button Cody whispered.

"He was the only black guy I could think of on the spot." Before Beth could question him further the soldiers voice replied.

"What is your business?"

"I have a prisoner and a ship that I think the high commander might be very interested in." Cody said as he could here voices in the back ground.

"Tell me what they are."

"I have the small ship that is part of Legacy, and the woman who was driving it Beth Phoenix." More chatter came down the comm. System and then all of a sudden the High commanders voice could be heard.

"Give that to me, Lieutenant you are lucky that you have such wonderful gifts for me, I was in the middle of something very important, but it can wait for this." The mans voice sounded eerily creepy and Beth had to hold back a shudder as Cody placed a hand on her arm.

"I shall come over and bring you the prisoner and the ship." Cody said as he could here more voices then only Sambo's.

"Yes you do that right now I can't wait to have my little fire bird back." The radio was cut off and Beth shook her head.

"Come on it's now or never."

Going back down into the hold Cody fired up the engines and took the D-Ex out of the cargo ship, the Bismarck was huge and there were three other ships surrounding it. Cody wasn't sure how exactly they were going to pull this off, but he sent out the coded message to Legacy and hoped their back up would show up in time.

Beth was starting to get nervous, the dummy remote was shaking in her hand as they got closer to the ship. There was something about this ship which seemed dark, it wasn't the paint work or the lines of the ship, but it was like the sole of the ship was evil and evil did indeed reside here. As the shadow of the Bismarck's loading bay came over them and the D-Ex was hauled up on to the ramp Cody shut down the engines and flicked the switch to start the thirty minute count down.

"Thirty minutes, doesn't seem like a long time now, I guess either we get out or we all die right here." Cody said to the blonde who was looking out of the window at the gathering soldiers who had parted for their high commander.

Mickie was stunned as the voice of her pilot came over the ships tannoy. He was saying that he had Beth and the D-ex and the high commander had halted his guard just as he was poised to enter Randy. Mickie couldn't believe the timing, she had the location of Legacy rolling off her tongue as she saw Randy's horrified face and Sambo's grin when the call had come. Sambo had not bothered to release them, telling them he would be back but had rushed off to find out what was going on.

They were alone now in the dungeon and Mickie looked at Randy's trembling body as his breathing started to even out once more.

2Remind me if we get out of this to give that boy a promotion." Randy said his voice somewhat muffled by the table but Mickie could here the smile as she sagged in her restraints a small smile of her own ghosting her lips.

Sambo's face was the picture of happiness until he saw Cody climb out behind Beth brandishing the remote.

"Who the hell are you!" Sambo demanded as his guards all raised their weapons.

"Well I sure aren't Will Smith, but I am the guy who will blow a hole in this ship the size of Africa its self if you don't all drop your weapons right now!" Cody said as they all looked at one another.

"Don't think we are not willing to die High commander." Beth said in such a menacing tone that Sambo realised that they were not joking.

"Drop your weapons!" He ordered as all the men laid down their guns and both Cody and Beth picked up one each, Cody grabbed two more and gave one to Beth.

"For the Captain." He said an smiled at Beth who briefly returned it.

"Take us to them and we will leave you alone, if not we will all die right here right now." Beth said waving her gun at Sambo who raised his hands and lead them towards his torture chamber.

Cody was astonished by what he saw but they didn't have time to think about it, they only had ten minutes before the D-Ex blew and Legacy was yet to arrive. Cody released Randy and handed his commanding officer his pants back without a word followed by the gun.

Beth had got Mickie out of her restraints and she was very conscious of the guards watching them.

"We need to get out of here now." Beth hissed at Mickie who seemed to understand immediately as they went to the door.

Randy spotted Sambo and made a lunge for him but was stopped by Beth calming hand on his shoulder.

"It will all be taken care of Commander right now we need to leave." Randy blinked down at her, the anger mist lifting from his eyes as he followed them out on to the deck and towards the life boats.

"Look!" Cody shouted as Legacy appeared on the horizon and they all turned to see one of the best sights their eyes could have ever given them.

"Lets get out of here before Sambo changes his mind." Mickie said as they lowered themselves into the small life boat and headed back to their ship.

"Why did they not take their ship?" Sambo said as he approached the D-Ex just as he had been informed that they had taken a life raft and Legacy was coming.

"There is a reason, oh god no!" Sambo said the answer coming to him in a flash as he saw the explosives lined up in the aft on the ship. The timer on the clock said 3 minutes.

"Abandon ship!" He called out as he raced for the upper decks and freedom.

Mickie, Randy, Cody and Beth watched the Bismarck go up in flames from their small boat as Legacy pulled along side them and dropped down a ladder.

"Do you think he is dead?" Randy whispered to Mickie as he helped her on to the ladder.

"God I hope so." She replied as she ascended the ladder, but something was telling her this was far from over.

There we can all breath easy again, at least for now. Hope you liked that one I certainly enjoyed writing it. I would like to take this time to just ask everyone who reads this to recommend a story to a friend today, not necessarily this one but just one you love and think does not get enough attention,

I would like to recommend Nothing to hide by XXFutureWWEDivaXX it is a wonderful story of heartbreak and she has just posted a new chapter I urge you to check it out. Thanks for reading

XxX


	24. My Captain's keeper

Hey I am back, just a quick thing, VIXY VAMPIRE mentioned theme music to this story, I don't have that exactly but the song that inspired me to write this is called I believe in you by Amanda Marshall, if you would like you can check it out and picture all the scenes as it plays.

My Captain's keeper

It had been over twenty four hours since Mickie and Randy had been back on Legacy. She had managed to get herself out of the medical bay, there was nothing the doctor could really do for her anyway so she had bugged him until the poor man could take no more and packed her off with some painkillers and some antibiotics.

Mickie was supposed to return to her cabin and rest but as night had fallen and the rest of the ship were asleep as Legacy ebbed in the wake of an Island Mickie had come back to the bridge and back to her chair.

Sitting in the dark silence now she allowed herself a small smile, the relief at being back was almost overwhelming, she really did think that she would never see her ship again, or her crew and now here she was bathed in star light sitting in her own familiar chair.

The dream that had awoken Mickie earlier that evening, the one that had caused sweat to roll down her sides and her body to shiver against the goose bumps was starting to fade away in the comforting surrounds of her bridge, she could not remember the dream precisely and she wanted to keep it that way. She thought she would have a lot of things to haunt her sleep from now on and the times when she couldn't remember them would be a blessing.

Hearing the lift doors open Mickie turned round abruptly, her heart hammering in her chest and her muscles on high alert.

"Damm it Beth you scared the hell out of me." Mickie said as she watched the blonde come down the ramp and sit in Randy's chair without a second thought.

"You know I am getting pretty used to sitting here." Beth said without turning towards Mickie but choosing to stair out of the windows.

"Not sure Randy would appreciate you taking his spot, but I'm sure he won't mind you keeping it warm for a little while." Mickie replied as she too stared straight forward resting her arms on the rests and crossing her legs.

"I have a feeling what is keeping you awake is the same thing that has kept me from a decent nights sleep in three months." Beth said, her voice was quite but sure and now Mickie turned to look at her.

"Probably." She said feeling no need to deny it, they had both been through so much it was a wonder either woman was still able to trust at all.

"Maybe it is time you allowed someone in, someone to help silence those daemons at night." This time Beth did look at her, she stared at Mickie right in the eyes and held her gaze until Mickie herself dropped the contact.

"When Sambo had you, do you wish that your brother had been there with you?" Mickie said finally avoiding Beth's statement and causing the blonde to pause.

"I guess in one way it would have been better. Someone to come back to on those cold nights, someone to say that it was all going to be alright and to support you. On the other hand, to watch him suffer, to watch him be abused, I am not sure I could have copped with that, to watch someone I love get hurt is probably the worst thing I can imagine." Beth said placing her hand over the top of Mickie's and giving it a small squeeze.

Mickie looked down at their joined hands, Beth's fingers intertwined with her own and Mickie let out a deep sigh.

"He is in love with you, you know." Beth said suddenly and Mickie snatched her hand away and turned to Beth who was smiling at her. The light from the stars playing on her blue eyes and there was no doubt to be found there.

"Who?" Mickie decided to play dumb not knowing what else to do.

"Randy of course, the way he smiles when you enter a room, and how he acts almost bereft when you leave, why don't you let him in Mickie, maybe you could heal each other." Beth said retaking Mickie's hand and making the smaller woman look at her once more.

"I don't think I can, it's too complicated." Mickie stuttered feeling suddenly very un Captain like and Beth couldn't help but notice the slight blush appear on Mickie's cheeks.

"How complicated would be the person you love does not love you back, or is stranded on a desert island somewhere, no this one is simple, Don't let something you want go just because it is against the rules, because if you haven't noticed we aren't in your world anymore." This time its was Beth's turn to look away, she looked back out of the window scanning the horizon, this was her world and if she had it her way no one was going to be alone on it again.

"I feel like if I let Randy in I will be opening Pandora's box and I won't be able to close it again." Mickie said bringing Beth's attention back to her and the blonde smiled and stood up.

"Remember Captain at the bottom of that box there was one thing left, hope." With that Beth climbed on to the lift and the doors closed on her. Mickie leaned back in her chair and placed her hands in her lap. She had a lot to think about and the two days shore leave she had scheduled could not have come at a better time for any of them.

Randy was in the medical bay, he had been made to stay by Dr Borne as he had to have his antibiotics fed to him through a drip as his own infection had taken quite a hold.

Evan had said if Mickie had not gotten him those antibiotics he probably would have been looking at blood poisoning or worse.

Now Randy was bored sat up in bed and spending shore leave with a needle in his arm, this was not what was making him extra grumpy though, all the crew had been to see him, ask how he was spend time with him, that was apart from the one person he wanted to see the most. In two days he had not seen his Captain, yes when she had been stuck in the bed next to him he had seen her, but the moment she left and said her polite good bye to him she had not once been back.

The crew were mostly on the Island and even Dr Borne was taking a well deserved break while on of his staff nurses kept an eye on Randy, who was told that if he tried to get out of bed he would be shot.

Eyeing the nurse carefully as she walked across the ward Randy thought better of it the woman did look like she would shoot him in a heart beet then patch him up just enough so he didn't die.

Looking at the door once more hoping to see her coming towards him Randy raised his eyebrows as the tall blonde rebel entered the medical bay.

"How's the Doc's favourite patient today?" Beth asked as she perched on the bed next to Randy and the Commander hand to smile at her cheery mood.

"Favourite would be stretching the truth somewhat Beth." He said as she grinned at him and pulled a try from behind her back which held two cups of coffee.

"You are an angel." Randy said reaching out for the beverage which Beth handed over willingly and she sipped on her own cup.

"So why aren't you outside on the beach with the others?" Randy said as he felt the hot liquid slide down his throat and warmed him from the core.

"I wanted to talk to you." She said, Randy was not surprised by her honesty, it was something that stuck him as very refreshing, especially within the Navy command, most people had some hidden agenda and with Beth what she said was what she meant.

"Oh well I am glad someone decided to come and talk to me." Randy's voice was light but Beth caught the double meaning behind it immediately and she gave him a soft smile.

"I think Mickie just needs some time, having this happen to you both, has forced to her face things she would rather keep hidden."

"Oh and while she is deciding what to do I should just wait." Randy said not able to keep all the anger from his voice this time.

"In a word yes, if you force her she will run straight back into her Captain's shell and you will never get her out."

"I'm not sure I can, I am sick of this limbo." Randy said looking in to Beth's eyes and noticing just how blue they were for the first time.

"Maybe you should go and see her tonight, the Doc is letting you out of here later as I understand it and I happen to know that she will be eating dinner in her Cabin at around eight." Beth said with a small wink and Randy couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Are you planning an ambush Miss Phoenix?" He asked his own smile creeping up on his face now as he pushed himself more upright on his pillows.

"Not at all Mr Orton, but I do know she needs you more than she would ever tell you, and the reason she has not been to see you is because she can not bare to look at you while you are still hurt, she had enough of that at the hands of Sambo, and it will be something that stays with her a very long time, believe me I know." Beth said closing her hand around Randy's fingers as she tilted her face away to hide her quivering lip.

"Thank you." Randy said simply returning the grip on his hand and waiting for Beth to regroup herself, as she did Randy couldn't help the lump that appeared in his throat but he swallowed it fast at the frown on Beth's face.

"I better go or Ted, Cody and Melina are going to wonder where I got to, I promised I would play pairs volleyball with them." Beth said standing up and letting go of Randy's hand.

"Remember eight tonight Mickie's cabin, no uniform." Beth said as she left the medical bay and Randy pondering exactly what he should wear.

The day had gone slowly, with all the action over the last week, it was almost like someone had stopped time and given them a chance to recuperate. Mickie watched as her crew played sat and swam in the comfort of this island paradise.

She was waiting for the other shoe to drop though, waiting to see those UAN ship's appear on the horizon, or another storm to gather and try to sink her ship but it just hadn't happened. She watched now as Cody and Beth played Ted and a healing Melina at volleyball. She laughed at just how bad Cody was at it and now she understood why Melina with only one hand was a fair match.

Beth jogged up to Mickie after loosing the match with a slight scowl on her face.

"Cody is horrible at that game, if I were you I would seriously reconsider letting him drive five hundred tones of ship again."

Mickie had to chuckle as Beth sat in the san her knees draw up to her chest and her chin resting on them.

"I am very glad he sails better than he play volley ball." Mickie said copying Beth's position as Ted, Cody and Melina came over to join them.

"Next time I am having Mickie on my side." Beth said a pout coming to her lips but Ted just grinned at her.

"Too easy man." He said patting the blonde on the head which angered her further and Ted decided suddenly he wanted a swim.

Melina chuckled to herself as she watched Ted drag Cody away with him as Beth glared after them but threw a small smile at Cody as they disappeared down the beach.

"Hey how was Randy?" Melina asked Beth who shot her a shut up your going to ruin it look as Mickie raised her eyebrows.

"Oh bored, I just said hello he was pretty sleepy I didn't want to disturb him." Beth said feeling bad about the lie but knowing for now it was a necessity. Mickie needed a shove in the right direction and she knew this would be the perfect way to do it.

"Oh I see, well that's to be expected." Melina said giving Beth an I didn't realise look and both turned their eyes away from Mickie who was left feeling very confused.

"So Captain when are we thinking of leaving here?" Melina asked changing the subject quickly and she saw Mickie's face change back to a calm mask.

"Probably tomorrow, we have plenty of food supplies, fuel is a little low but we can manage and I want to have another try at getting home." Both women nodded knowing that now was as good a time as any, the UAN were probably weakened by their recent skirmish and maybe even down one leader, they were probably off licking their wounds and now was Legacy's chance to have a real crack at leaving once and for all.

"I will miss you guys." Beth said suddenly and both Melina and Mickie turned to her at once.

"Why you will be coming with us." Mickie said placing her arm around the blonde as Melina stood up and swatted the sand away from her bum.

"Yeah you have to come I'm all bust up and we may need someone else to get the crud out from between the rota blades for once." Melina smiled at Beth as she and Mickie stood up and walked back towards Legacy.

"Now how can I refuse an offer like that?."

Randy was stood outside Mickie's quarters, he was nervous as hell, the bottle of wine he was holding was almost slipping out of his sweaty hands as he tried once more to knock at her door.

"Come on Randy it's just Mickie." He said quietly to himself as his knuckles finally connected with the wood of her cabin door.

"Come in Beth I was just getting setting the table." Mickie said walking into the living room and stopping dead in her tracks.

"Randy." She breathed out as Randy looked down at himself and smiled.

"Yeah sorry, don't tell me off, I thought you were expecting me, obviously not." He said almost turning to go, but really not wanting to.

"No it's ok, I think I know what has gone on here, come sit, it would be a shame to let such a good meal go to waste." Mickie said pointing to one of the chairs at her small dining table.

Randy did as she asked and he placed the bottle of wine he had brought in the centre of the table and un capped it.

"Here I hope you like lamb." Mickie said carrying in what looked like two beautiful lamb dinners complete with baby vegetables and golden potatoes.

"Wow this looks amazing." Randy said his mouth practically watering at the sight of the food.

Neither of them had eaten well in almost a week and now here they were sitting in her cabin having a beautiful meal under the dim lights.

"I hope you enjoy it, and I also hope Beth got something equally unappetising at the mess hall." Mickie said and Randy laughed slightly knowing that Mickie was very much joking.

Eating their meal in relative silence Mickie and Randy shard the odd look, their hands met once both going for the wine bottle and both felt the electric current that their now familiar contact created.

"I missed you." Mickie finally said as she put down her knife and fork and looked at him from across the table.

"I missed you too." Randy replied as he held out his hand for her to take. She accepted his offer and they linked fingers. They both looked at each other for a long time, neither saying anything with their mouths but their eyes were communicating endless feelings that neither dared say aloud.

"I have not been sleeping well." Mickie finally said as Randy nodded in agreement with her.

"Neither have I." He replied as Mickie got up and brought him with her.

"Would you sleep with me tonight, I mean just hold me, maybe we will feel better if we are not alone." Mickie said looking up into his eyes and there was no way Randy was going to refuse her.

"Of course." He said as he watched her go into her bathroom. Randy stated clearing the dirty dishes away as he felt awkward just standing in the middle of his Captain's living room with nothing to do but wait for her to come to bed.

"Leave those for the morning." Mickie said switching off the light to her bathroom and Randy saw that she had changed into a pair of purple pyjamas.

"I have nothing to sleep in" Randy said looking down at himself and shrugging.

"Sleep in your boxers its fine." Mickie said as she climbed under the covers and turned away from him to give him some privacy to change.

The next thing Mickie felt were a strong warm a pair of arms wrapping around her torso. She snuggled in to his body as she heard him mumble something against her hair that she couldn't quite work out before she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Sambo was pacing the bridge of his new ship as he approached Hawaii. His armada had come prepared this time, there was going to be nothing left of this rebel base but a pile of ashes and he would take every rebel he could find.

If Legacy would come to save its Captain it would come to save Beth's parents, and this time he would be ready for them.

Oh no I have done it again, hope you enjoyed, this chapter was a little more light hearted than some of my more recent ones but as you might have guessed there is no peace for our hapless crew.

As ever reviews are wonderful and they do make me update faster.

Thanks for reading

XxX


	25. All Rhodes lead to home?

Please enjoy!

All Rhodes lead to Home

Cody was sat at the helm, he was looking as the ocean spanned before him, he could see birds flying around the ship, the sun was high in the sky and Legacy cut though the water like a knife though butter. He couldn't help but smile to himself at the whispering going on behind him from his command team.

Last night in the mess hall Beth had shared with them her plan, not only did they all think it was a great idea but all were slightly shocked at how devious the blonde was. Now Cody could just catch snippets of their conversation and what he could here was making him smile.

"You're the Captain you can do what you want."

"I don't think that includes and extension on my cabin for you." Mickie replied to her grinning first officer, ever since she had woken up to him stroking her hair he had been smiling like he had just won the lottery. It was endearing at first but now she was starting to get a little annoyed at him.

"Well I don't mind the close quarters if you don't" Randy smirked at her as Cody gave a harsh cough in front of them having obviously overheard their conversation and covering his laughter.

"Commander." Mickie warned in a low voice giving Randy a playful slap on the wrist, glancing around she noticed that no one else was listening to them however and she relaxed somewhat in her chair.

"Captain engine room reports that the fuel is below recommended limits." John Morrison said from his station as he got off the radio with Melina and Mickie shook her head.

"Talk about carbon footprint. Ok Mr Rhodes lay in a cause for Hawaii, even if no one is left there I am sure the refuelling rig will be."

Cody turned round and acknowledged her orders and changed cause. It wasn't that far out of their way and so far they had seen no other ships in the area.

It did not mean they were not looking for them though, every pair of eyes were trained on the screens in front of them scanning and re scanning for any signs of life, hostile or otherwise. Not only had the UAN been keeping their distance but not a single rebel ship had been spotted either. Beth had expressed her concerns about this to Mickie before she had headed off to engineering. The concern had been plaguing Mickie for the rest of the day. Why hadn't the rebels taken advantage of a weakened enemy? Why had they seem to disappear in to the ether and left Legacy as a very big very exposed target.

Getting up quickly Mickie headed for her ready room, turning to look at Randy making eye contact with him she said.

"You have the bridge Commander."

Randy knew that tone of voice it was I need to be alone I have to think. Randy knew better than to disturb her now. After nearly a month a sea with her he felt like he could read her like a book at times. At others she was as unfamiliar to him as sheep herding. He guessed that Mickie allowed people to see what she wanted them to see nothing more. He had just gotten better at reading between the lines, last night as he watched her sleep he felt like he had know her his whole life, that even her parents did not know their daughter the way he did, yet even in sleep she was still guarded, a frown or a grimace crossing her face every now and then.

It had taken Randy a while to get to sleep, but when he did it was at least peaceful. Beth had been right they did need to heal each other and Mickie was finally allowing him in, but right now she needed her space and he was not going to intrude on it.

Mickie sat down heavily at her desk and tapped her radio button. She heard the noise of the engines and then Melina's slightly perturbed voice come over the radio.

"Yes Captain?"

"Could you send Beth up here for me please I need her expertise." Mickie said not allowing her voice to waver and giving Melina no choice but to comply with her request.

"Aye Captain she is on her way." Melina replied as she broke the link and Mickie folded her arms and sat back in her chair. All this tension all this expectancy that she was waiting for had just not come. Nothing had happened for four days now but something kept nagging at her, that some times things were just too good to be true.

Getting up and aiming for her coffee pot Mickie poured herself a cup and also for Beth, the rebel had gotten quite a taste for it since she had been aboard and she knew that the gesture at least would be appreciated.

Sitting back down in her chair Mickie swivelled around so she was looking out of the window, she could not remember how many times she had done this in the past, but it never failed to ease her mind, watching the sun and the sky, the clouds drift passed always made her feel better, its what she had joined the navy for, to feel free to explore the oceans and to tray and tame them. Sighing heavily and inwardly cursing herself for dragging Beth up to the bridge for a chat that was probably unnecessary Mickie winced at the quick knock at the door.

"Come in." She called as Beth's face popped around the door and she smiled sheepishly at Mickie.

"Look if this is about last night, I'm sorry, ok I'm not but I thought you two could do with a push and you had invited me for dinner and Randy was disappointed that he hadn't seen you."

"Beth your rambling, come in and close the door." Mickie said somewhere between annoyed and amused as the blonde visibly relaxed and sat down opposite Mickie. Her eyes lit up at the sight of a hot cup of coffee on the desk and she hastily picked it up.

"God I needed that, its hellish hot down in that engine room." Beth said now almost slumping in the chair as Mickie raised her eyebrows. No other member of this crew would slump in front of her and it actually made her feel more like a human again instead of just a Captain.

"I know, anyway I called you up here because of something you said this morning. You mentioned that it was odd that no rebel ships were around, that they should be taking this opportunity to stock up to find a new base, but they weren't, can you think of any reason why not?"

Now Beth sat up, her posture changed as she starting considering Mickie's question. Beth had not been oblivious to the lack of action taking place in the surrounding ocean but she hopped it was just her paranoia getting to her. Now that Mickie was expressing her concern also Beth was forced to think seriously about it.

"Only a couple of reasons, either they have already found a new base and are busy sticking it up and therefore not needing to sail. We have simply missed them, they could have moved miles in the other direction although I doubt it, it would be too close to Africa. Or the UAN have been a lot more active than we thought and have neutralised the threat." Beth concluded with anger tinting her voice as Mickie nodded. It was basically the conclusion she had come to also, both women were hoping for it to be something simple like just not being in the same place at the same time, but both were suspecting the latter, that while they were sunning themselves on a desert island, the UAN were coming after the rebels once and for all.

"I think we had better get to Hawaii and find out for sure either way." Mickie said looking at Beth but the blonde was examining the carpet.

"Whatever happens we are going to need the fuel, we just can't assume anything yet." Mickie said as Beth slowly levelled her eyes with Mickie, the intensity in them made Mickie rock back in her chair.

"Just because your paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get you." Beth intoned as Mickie let out a whoosh of air and pursed her lips together.

"I know and out here I have come to expect the worst, but we just can't be sure, look we are only a few hours away, why don't you stay on the bridge, keep you out of that hot engine room and you can check out the scanning equipment." Mickie offered, thinking the blonde might enjoy a bit of fresh air and a first hand view of the scenery outside.

"Sure sounds like a plan." Beth said standing up and smiling once again. Mickie was stunned at how fast Beth had managed to hide her worry about her family and the other rebels and wonder if Beth had been reading that one from the James book of cover ups.

Following Beth out on to the bridge she watched as the blonde went and spoke with Ted, he willingly showed her how things worked and soon there was a pleasant banter going on once more on the bridge of Legacy.

Cody watched as Hawaii came into view. It was a familiar sight now and it didn't take him long to notice that something wasn't right.

"Captain!" He called as she Beth, Randy and Ted had gotten themselves in a pretty deep conversation about sensors images when Cody shouted though all eyes were focused on him.

"Look" He said pointing out the window at the island, which was now emitting several plumes of smoke and some of the outer cliffs were crumbling into the ocean below.

"Tread softly Cody take her in slow." Mickie said coming back to her chair, Randy followed and both looked at each other before Beth walked up and stood behind Cody, her hands placed on the back of his chair as the young man placed a hand over one of hers and tried to catch her eye. Beth did not seem to notice though as the island started to loom large and the extent of the damage was now visible.

"They did this because of me." Beth said so quietly that only Cody heard her but before he could say anything Mickie spoke up.

"Doesn't look like they are waiting for us, can we still use the refuelling pump?" Ted answered her in the negative.

"No Ma'am its destroyed looks like it was the last thing they blew up looking at the burn marks." Ted said as Legacy floated past the destroyed docks and Cody turned the ship almost 180 degrees as they ran out of ocean.

"We will have to locate more as soon as we can." Mickie said as Beth turned to her and narrowed her gaze.

"Beth I" Mickie began but was interrupted by a automated signal.

"Legacy if you are hearing this message you have come back, probably to refuel your ship. You may have noticed we have made some changes, as well as relocating all of the island's inhabitancy to our prison in Egypt. You are quite welcome to come and take their place. For everyday starting from the day after you hear this message you do not come we will kill one rebel. Oh by the way John and Mr and Mrs Cena send their love to Bethy and they hope to see their little girl soon."

Sambo's voice cut off as Beth took hold of the only thing she could find which was Mickie's lucky coffee mug and threw it against the glass.

Cody watched as the cup shattered into a million pieces and left a coffee stain on the window. Mickie's eyes were glued to that stain making its way towards the floor, she could understand Beth's frustration but she whished it had not been her lucky mug that got the brunt of the blondes anger.

"Captain."

"I know what you are going to say Beth and yes of course we are going after them, right now." Mickie cut the blond off mid flow but Beth came over to her a clamped her hands on Mickie's shoulders forcing Mickie to look at her.

"No you don't understand, this is a trap, he won't let those rebels go anymore than he was going to allow my brother to protect the island when he sold you out for us. If we go we will all die Mickie, and there is no way I am going to get anyone else killed." Beth said a single tear running down her cheek.

Cody stood up and turned towards the three people on the command deck. Beth with her hands on Mickie's shoulders, Randy with hand on Beth's, while Ted John and Mike watched from their stations. He knew he had to say something.

"Captain look I don't know about anyone else on this ship but I for one want to help get them back, I want to wipe that smile off of Sambo's ugly face and I think with the right plan Legacy can do it." All eyes were on him now. He hadn't quite thought his speech through but he just felt like he had to say something.

"Here here." Ted called out and the rest of the bridge officers with the exception of the two women in the centre copied Ted's sentiments.

"Well Beth looks like my crew wants to do this, will you deny us the chance to try." Mickie said placing her own hands on Beth's shoulders and linking hands with Randy as she did it. Catching her first officers eye she couldn't deny the emotion there but right now she had to be strong for Beth.

"Ok but if you all get killed I'm am going to record this moment and play it at your funerals." Beth smiled as she whipped the tears away and stepped back from the embrace. Randy and Mickie held on to each others hand for a brief second more but soon dropped the contact as they knew they had a lot of preparation to do and not much time to do it in.

The senior staff were gathered around the meeting table, legacy was already headed towards Egypt, even at full throttle it would take them a whole day to get there and they still had to come up with some plan of attack. Cody sat to Beth's left as the blonde lent forward flashing him a quick smile as she did so and turned her head towards the Captain.

"We need to get another ship, Legacy is powerful but can be easily outnumbered by the UAN. It just so happens I have that ship. The only problem is, its not finished." Beth said glancing at Melina as the chief engineer quickly understood.

"You need our help to retro fit the engines and maybe fit some weapons." Melina said thinking of they could do it in half a day they could still be at Egypt on time.

"Hold on where is this ship." Mickie said holding up her hand and stopping the two women mid flow.

"Not far a small island just off the coat of South Africa, we left it there in the understanding that if the UAN found it, it wouldn't matter because they wouldn't understand what they had. Sambo never brought the ship up so I guess they never found it." Beth concluded as Mickie allowed a small smile to play on her lips.

"Ok two ships Legacy and…" Mickie paused not knowing what Beth's ship was called.

"The Dauntless." Beth smiled as she now realised just how fitting that name was.

"Legacy and the Dauntless both armed with a low yield nuke and I think we can finally teach Sambo a lesson he has had coming to him from the start." Mickie said her caution of the early days leaving her. There was no way she was gong to leave this world with her conscience in tack if she let Sambo kill those rebels.

"Captain." it was Ted who had spoken up and Mickie had to break out of her day dream to look at her old friend whose expression was one of concern.

"I know we have to do this but a nuke, could we at least keep them as our last options." Ted said and as ever Mickie knew that the blonde man she had know since they had both been in short pants was right.

"Of course Mr Debasie you know I can get carried away at times, but I do want one ready to fit on the Dauntless as soon as we get there." Mickie said standing up and everybody else followed suit.

The meeting was officially over and everyone was making their way back to their stations. Beth caught Mickie by the arm and asked her to stay.

"Mickie what you are doing is above and beyond what I would have expected from you, but we do need to think about a crew for Dauntless, I have no right to ask any of your crew to step forward and leave Legacy but we are short on options, maybe we could start with some volunteers." Beth suggested meekly and Mickie felt for the first time Beth actually was unsure of herself.

"I think you will be pleasantly surprised at just how many people would be willing to do just that Beth." Mickie smiled at her friend and took her arm leading her back to the bridge as night began to descend upon them once more.

Dun Dun Dun… ok I did it again, will they with just two possibly ships be able to fight off Sambo's fleet and rescue everyone from Egypt. Who knows. Well I guess I do but I am not going to tell you just yet. Still a few more chapters to come but does anyone else feel the approach of and ending well review and let me know what you think, thank you so much for reading. Better go now should really update four corners too. Check it out if you haven't already its another twist on a classic. Just the way I like them.


	26. The haunting of deck 10

Sorry short one ran out of time had to go to work its kind of one chapter split into two enjoy anyway.

The haunting of deck 10

The Dauntless had been right where Beth said it was going to be, Mickie admired the ship as she looked at it out of the viewing widows. It seemed more modern than the other ships and she almost seemed to glint in the sunshine as they sailed around her.

Cody pulled Legacy to a stop beside the Dauntless as Beth almost ran off the bridge and in to the lift.

"I guess someone is keen." Randy chuckled following the blonde, and he couldn't hold back his own smile as Beth's good mood was infectious.

Melina and Kofi met them on the jetty as they walked alongside the Dauntless and Melina had to admire the design.

She rode low in the water, her nose was sharp and rose higher than the main deck. She had a curved bridge wall as the glass sloped away from the front edge up to a point where she levelled off to drop down vertical on to lower decking and to the aft torpedo bays.

"Wow she is beautiful." Kofi said as he climbed the ramp behind a happy looking Beth who was beckoning them all inside.

Once inside they could tell however the ship was far from finished. There were no chairs on the bridge for a start, all the consoles had been fitted though which would save them hours of wiring. The stairways were lacking in hand rails but they could all live with that and the engine room was a mess of cables and parts.

"I guess we had better get cracking." Melina said going first to one of the engines and placing her tool kit beside the littered parts.

Beth came and joined her while Kofi and Randy got to work on the power couplings.

"Orton to Legacy, we could use several more bodies down here." Randy said after an hours of clearing the worst of the mess and making enough room for everyone to work in it was time for the rest of the Legacy crew to help get the Dauntless sea worthy.

Beth looked around her ship to see the crew of Legacy work just like they did on their own ship, she could see the Dauntless coming together right before her eyes and she felt nothing but pride in her new found family.

Cody finally brought her out of her thoughts by tapping her on the shoulder with a concerned look in his eyes.

"I can't gain access to deck 10." He said as Beth spun round to face him and she smiled at him immediately.

"What do you need to go in there for, that deck doesn't matter there is nothing down there anyway." Beth said and Cody thought the woman looked decidedly nervous.

"I wanted to check that the power cables were ok all the way through the decks, they have been dormant a long time and they could have eroded anywhere." Cody said slightly defensively but suddenly feeling bad at Beth's distraught look.

"Umm ok I will go, I know where they all are it will be quicker." She said snatching the testing pliers from Cody's hand and taking off up the stairs towards deck 10.

Mickie was left almost alone on her bridge, the only other person who was there was Chris Jericho, he had remained on board in case they had to leave in a hurry. Now that the Dauntless was sea worthy if they did have to make a quick exit at least the small yet fast ship would be able to run from any attacker. Sitting staring out of the window, Mickie decided that she was board enough to think about just how she was going to split the crew up. She knew in her heart of hearts Randy had to go over to the Dauntless, not only did he know her best, he would be able to read her movements and support her without communication, Beth had little to no command experience and they would need a calm head over there. But Mickie didn't want to be without her first officer, she wanted him standing beside her while they tackled the UAN, but she knew she couldn't be selfish, if this plan was to work they would have to have the best crews they could come up with. That meant Randy was going over to commander the Dauntless whether he liked it or not, Mickie suspected he may put up a small fight but he would see sense in the end.

Ted would stay with her, he knew these systems better than anyone and would be able to give them warning minutes before anyone else it could provide vital time to be ready. She smiled Ted would be a perfect replacement for Randy as Ted knew Mickie better than anybody and he would keep her grounded when she wanted to blow the UAN to kingdom come.

Cody was an issue, although Chris was a great helm's man he was not Cody, but did tat mean Beth would need Cody to sail the unfamiliar ship to get the best out of it, or would Chris be able to manage leaving Legacy at full strength in that department. Mickie was unsure of what to do in that case and she for the first time that day wished Randy was here to discuss this with.

Sighing louder than she should Chris turned around to face her and raised his eyebrows.

"Are you ok Ma'am?" He asked and Mickie allowed herself a small smile on his behalf but before she could tell him she was fine a call came over the radio.

"Perez to Legacy."

"Go ahead Melina what's you status over there?" Mickie said standing up it was the first time in three hours they had heard anything from the other ship and Mickie was starting to think they wouldn't be ready on time.

"About another hour Captain, we are almost there, permission to bring the nuke over Ma'am." Melina said a slight hesitation in her voice. Mickie was glad she couldn't see her engineers expression because she knew what it would look like.

"Permission granted, this is only a last resort Chief I don't want to have to use them, but perhaps the threat will be enough alone and I don't want the Dauntless to not be able to defend herself." Mickie said knowing Randy would be on that ship and she had no intention of loosing him.

"Aye Ma'am I will send some guys over to get it." With that the transmission was cut off and all Mickie could do now was wait.

Randy was hot and sweaty but he was glad there were now chairs on the Dauntless's bridge. He slumped in one of them and thought he had better get used to this view. He had known from the time he set foot on this ship that he would not be rejoining Mickie on the legacy. It made the best sense, Dauntless needed a Captain and Legacy didn't need a first officer.

This was not the way he wanted his first command but he would be very proud to take on the responsibility if Beth allowed him to. Looking around now he could see the subtle beauty that Beth had brought to this ship. Her artistic flare for design was evident in the sweeping lines of the deck. All flowing out of the main viewing windows to the pint on the stern of the ship.

Standing up Randy walked around the deck and started switching on the systems, they booted up one at a time and so far he had found no problems. He watched as Melina's updates recorded as loaded in the Dauntless's systems. It had taken the longest amount of time but Melina and Beth had manage to upgrade the sensor systems and add sonar to the ships already impressive scanning systems.

The engines were relatively easy to fit, there was no way they could fit a turbo though it would take days if not a week and right now they did not have the time.

Randy checked his watch, it was ten to two in the afternoon. They hand only half a day left to get to Egypt before Sambo started to kill the rebels and they didn't want to have to loose and single person on this mission. Randy knew that it would be a lot to ask. They had been extraordinarily lucky to have kept everyone alive so far. Well some of it was luck, and some of it was sheer determination but Randy knew that luck always ran out and if they got out of this one in one peace he knew someone must be smiling down on them.

Turning and heading back for engineering Randy walked down the stairwell and passed the sign for deck 10. He remembered Cody had mentioned something earlier about that deck, but more specifically about the way Beth had acted when he had mentioned it. Pausing by the doorway now Randy decided it wouldn't hurt to take a quick look, if he was going to command this ship he had to know everything on it was working properly especially if they were going to be involved in a battle of some kind.

Pushing open the door Randy wondered if Beth was still on the deck as Cody had said he couldn't gain access to it earlier and Randy had been surprised that it was now open.

Walking down the dark and narrow corridor Randy ignored the chill than ran down his spine as he saw no one and heard no one on the deck.

Fighting the urge just to turn around and walk back to the main stairwell Randy pushed on and he decided he would just walk to the end and then go back, no harm in just having a look now was there.

Beth was sitting in the relative dark. She hated it down here, the deck always felt cold, like something was sapping the heat from the room, but she knew that was impossible. She looked down at the object in the centre of the room and shook her head.

She had forgotten about this until Cody had mentioned coming down to deck 10 and she knew she could not let him or anyone else from the Legacy crew see it. What would they think of her if they knew?

There was no way she could get rid of it now though, it would have to come with them, but what to do with it. Moving it was out of the question some one would see her, leaving on this deck was risky what if someone need to get to the access hatches down here to do repairs they would not miss the large object in the centre of the room.

Hiding it was the only choice, but where.

Beth looked around for inspiration as she heard a noise coming from down the corridor. She flinched as she heard the main door close and she knew she wasn't alone on this deck anymore.

With some effort she picked up the tubular shaped object and pulled open the storage cupboard in the corner, it was a pretty week hiding place but right now she didn't have a lot of choice. Going over to the access panels on the wall and getting started on checking the system all Beth could do was wait for the person to find her so they could then leave.

Sorry this one is short but I suppose anything is better than nothing right?

What is Beth up to, maybe she has a master plan of her own and she is just using Mickie and Legacy to help her carry it out?

Or is it something she now regrets doing and is ashamed of her creation, find out by hitting that review button and I will post the next chapter as quick as I am physically able.

Thanks for reading XxX


	27. The last out post

Ok new chapter sorry for the delay but I had to go to that awful place where they keep my pay check.

On with the show

The last out post

Randy had found Beth finishing of checking out the power relays and he was not sad to be leaving deck 10 in the slightest, something about it was giving him the creeps and as he pushed open the door and allowed Beth though he breath out a sigh of relief.

Beth was just grateful she no longer had to worry about anyone going down on deck 10, not that anyone ever liked going to deck 10, there was something creepy about it and she knew exactly why.

Looking across at Randy Beth gave him a small smile as he stopped her by placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Beth how would you feel if Mickie suggested I came over and took command of the Dauntless?" Randy said his eyes exploring hers looking for any sign that she was angry at his suggestion. Beth smiled slowly at him and he allowed himself to relax slightly.

"I would consider it an honour Mr Orton." Beth said her smile not leaving he face and Randy could do nothing but return it.

"Good, now lets talk about deck 10 and how so god damm creepy it is."

Mickie watched as her crew filed back on to the bridge, what was left of them anyway. Cody would remain at the helm, Beth having taking the duty for sailing the dauntless herself and Mickie could not have picked a better person for the job.

Ted walked in and gave her shoulder a small squeeze. She was also missing John Morrison who had remained on the Dauntless to take up the post of tactical officer. Mickie had also assigned Melina to he new ship, most of the upgrades and quick fixes they had made to the new ship would need constant monitoring, and no one knew those systems like Melina.

Kofi had come back and was now in charge of the engine room of Legacy, Mickie knew she would feel the loss of every crew member greatly, but it was also a necessary evil. The most profound loss however was the now empty chair next to her, the absence of her first officer was not just skin deep for Mickie any more, but her heart actually ached at the lack of his presence by her side.

Her thought were interrupted by the radio, Mickie smiled before the person on the other end of the line spoke.

"Orton to Legacy, the Dauntless is ready Captain." Randy said obvious excitement in his voice, but Mickie knew that feeling well, it would fade quickly when the weight of their mission finally settled on his board shoulders.

"Then by all mean, Mr Rhodes Miss Phoenix take them out." Mickie said talking to both pilots at once via the radio and she heard both engines roar to life.

"Hey Captain your going to love the Dauntless's party tick." Randy said having not broken the radio connection and Mickie smiled knowing he would need sometime to find his feet.

"Oh yeah, why don't you show me Commander." Mickie said with a rye smile that Randy could not possibly see.

"Mr Rhodes back us off let the Dauntless out first." Mickie said as she felt Legacy slow down and watched as the Dauntless backed out of the harbour almost until she was in open water.

Watching Mickie saw the smaller ship turn a full 180 degrees on its axes, she couldn't believe what she was seeing as Legacy went hard to starboard and joined Dauntless facing out in to the pacific.

"Pretty impressive Commander, Beth your going to have to tell me how you did that one day." Mickie said re opening the radio channel and talking in ore at the shiny new ship along side her.

"Any time Mickie, but right now time is running out." The blonde replied as Mickie looked up at the clock on the wall.

They had planned to reach Egypt in the very early hours of the morning, travelling over night and arriving almost four hours earlier than they had to, it would be only a small element of surprise but any advantage they could get might just be worth it.

"This is Captain James to all hands Battle stations."

Both ships pushed forward cutting a wake that would have given any dolphin a challenge as they headed out in the ever fading light to go and save the only chance this world had of white people becoming equals.

Randy sat in the Captain's chair on the Dauntless, he was happy at first, he had his own ship a great crew and a worth cause. Now he felt very much alone, he wondered if Mickie felt like this all the time. That the weight of responsibility that she had for her crew was what drove her to keep them at arms length. To feel responsible for not only the ship but each and every person on it was daunting enough without having to worry about someone you loved.

Randy looked at the back of Beth's head, she seemed to be concentrating on cause corrections but she seemed to paused for a second and then she turned to look at him like she knew he was watching.

"Are you ok Randy?" She asked glancing back at her controls and deciding everything was ok she turned to look at him more fully.

"I was just thinking about how hard it must be to command and to love." He said knowing that Beth would have seen right through him had he tried to lie. The blonde just nodded, Randy saw this as an invitation to continue.

"I don't like not having her to go to, even if it was just to talk, but you know what I always had the luxury of if the shit hit the fan, she would always be there, now knowing that I have all your lives in my hands, that's not just big that's massive." Randy said as he watched Beth's face break into a smile as she shook her head slightly.

"My husband used to say that too, when he was on a ship he felt like he had to protect the younger ones, ones that weren't as capable as him. It's what made him a good person, and I think if we loose that, we become open to being like the UAN."

Randy was slightly taken back that Beth had been married, although he had wondered about why she did not share the same second name as her family, marriage was the most logical reason.

"What, I mean where, no I mean." Randy said not knowing how to ask Beth why they had not met her husband yet but he already suspected the answer.

"Where is my husband, he died, defending a small ship against the UAN, the Crusader was carrying a whole load of supplies when it was found by one of the high commander ships, Andrew tried to out run them, but they were no match for the UAN ship. Crusader was lost with all hands two years ago, and I have been fighting everyday since then." Beth said a tear in her eye which she was refusing to let fall. She suddenly realised the entire bridge had gone quite and she blushed slightly and locked eyes with Randy.

"We trust you Commander, just go with your heart." Beth said finally as she turned around and starting coarse corrections once more.

Randy had a lot to think about in the last half an hour but the one thing that had been playing on his mind was now staring him straight in the face,

"Captain to Dauntless do you see that Randy?" Mickie said over the radio as a huge smile appeared on Randy's face.

"Yes Captain and it is your salvation." Randy said as he indicated to Beth to slow down as the medium sized ship came in to their field of vision more fully and Randy knew this was perfect.

"Pardon commander I think we have a bad line I thought you said my salvation." Mickie said not a slight idea what Randy was going on about.

"Mr Debasie do you remember the intrepid." Randy said over the radio and Mickie turned around and looked at Ted as realisation dawned on the blonde and he openly grinned at Mickie. She was not amused anymore and she wanted in on the joke.

"Ok what is it guys, that ship is a floating island what could we possibly use it for?" Mickie said thinking everything on that ship would either be rusty or just plain useless.

"Not everything Captain, fuel." Ted said giving Mickie a wink and letting her know that he wasn't going to call her on her oversight and Mickie almost slapped her head with her short sightedness.

"Of course the fuelling hose can suck it from that ships tank." Mickie said ordering Cody up alongside the stranded ship and looking at the abandoned vessel with interest. It seemed relatively in tacked. It did not appeared to be as old and rusty a Mickie had first thought and she was glad. They had know that they would have enough fuel to get to Egypt as for getting back that was anyone guess.

They had not planned that far ahead, it seemed like tempting fate to talk about when they rescued the prisoners and escaped. It was still a real possibility that neither ship would return home, at least not with it crew on board and having no fuel left would be the least of their worries. Now though having that problem solved seemed like a really good idea. Mickie turned and looked at Ted first then back out at the ship Legacy had stopped next to then towards the ship that was on their other side drifting next to them like a silent bodyguard.

"Commander have I ever told you, you are a genius?" Mickie said as he radioed the other ship once more and she could almost here Randy's smile in his reply.

"Not often enough for my liking Ma'am." He said and Mickie grinned at Cody as the man stood up to go and help hook up the legacy's refuelling hose to the other ships tanks.

It only took half an hour to empty the abandoned ship's tanks of fuel, it only half filled Legacy but it would be plenty for what they had to do. Mickie and Randy had kept up the light banter across the radio, even at this distance they need to feel the other close to them, knowing that they were still there, still supporting each other was enough to ease the butterflies in both of their stomachs.

When Cody returned and he reported that everything had been successful Mickie could feel the knot getting bigger, it was almost dark now, both ships would be travelling in grey mode, which meant no unnecessary communications, minimal power output apart from engines everything would be on shutdown and the ship would be blacked out.

Ted was a wear that the only lights on the bridge now Mickie had ordered grey mode were coming from the consoles. They were giving everyone a strange glow as the screens flashed up data then darkened to display other data. Blinking his eyes so they could adjust back to the inkiness of the room Ted spotted Mickie sitting in her chair in a familiar pose. Her arms were on both rests, knuckles almost white from gripping the ends and her legs crossed, foot swinging in the air while she pondered all the questions that must be going around her head.

"Captain maybe you should go get yourself a coffee, there is nothing for you to do right now and you will be only a call away." Ted suggested as Mickie turned to look at him and gave him a soft smile. She knew Ted would always be able to read her moods better than anyone else, that was because he had far more years to lean her little tells, but he was right she was doing the crew no good out here wound up like a spring and so with a nod of the head she went in to her ready room and closed the door.

Randy was used to being left on the bridge by himself, Mickie did it all the time leaving to go to her ready room or to engineering, but now in the almost pitch dark with only Beth and John for company Randy felt like a very small dot in a very large ocean, which on the face of it was entirely true.

"How is it looking Beth?" Randy asked finally breaking the silence and Beth was grateful for the break in tension.

"Not a sole in sight sir." John replied from over their shoulders and Beth checked her readouts once more and confirmed what John had said.

"Heading a speed remain the same sir, might as well get yourself that coffee you have been dying for since we left harbour." Beth said allowing a small smile to play at he lips but keeping her face turned away from Randy.

Randy considered arguing with her but he knew it would come of no use, she was right, he could do with a caffeine injection and some quite time to think.

Getting up and giving both his bridge crew a nod he went to the small meeting room next to the bridge. There was a coffee maker in there and a table not unlike the one on Legacy only smaller.

Allowing the pot to come to the boil Randy filled up his mug and stood facing the window. It was total darkness outside now and even the stars had gone in to hide the two ships from enemy eyes. Randy realised now that he must be looking right at Legacy but he had to strain hard in the gloom to make out even her shape.

He wondered briefly what Mickie was up to right now and it wouldn't surprise him if she was doing exactly what he was, drinking coffee and contemplating the morning.

Sighing heavily Randy sat in the chair nearest him. He placed the mug down on the table and placed his head in his hands.

He was tired they all were, now was not the time though for thinking about sleep, now was the time to come up with a plan to dispose of Sambo once and for all. The only reason he had not killed him that day on the Bismarck was because Beth had told him that it would be taken car of. Now he knew he was still out there, Randy have every intention of coming good on his promise to him.

Mickie didn't know how long she had been sitting at her desk for. Sometimes hours seemed like seconds and others minutes dragged on like days. She wished they had had more time to come up with a plan on how they were going to pull this off, but that was probably what Sambo was banking on. He was probably hoping that they would come barrelling in there all guns blazing and they would have found themselves in that prison right alongside Beth's family. Looking into her now empty mug Mickie could do nothing more than sit in her chair and think about how they were supposed to go about saving the rebels. In the end they were but two ships against what Mickie suspected would be dozens. They may be able to take out a few before Sambo even realised they were there but she also knew it wouldn't be that simple.

There was no more time for talk either, dreams of getting home to an unchanged reality was something right now she did not want to think about. The amount of change they had made in this world was bad enough already, but maybe this was the way things were meant to happen, maybe legacy was supposed to come here and force change upon a world that had clearly none for over three hundred years.

Home was a distant memory right now and one Mickie would have to put out of her mind if she wanted to get through this battle alive, preferably with her ship in tacked.

She desperately wanted to talk to Randy but this close to Egypt she ran the risk of the UAN overhearing and she did not want them to know they were here, not until they were right on top of them any way.

Right now she was regretting very much that they had lost the D-Ex, it would have made the perfect scout ship, but she also knew if the Legacy still had the D-Ex on board its Captain and Commander would not be. Looking out of the window now and seeing for the first time some light on the horizon that was turning the sky from total black to dark navy Mickie knew she did not have long to think about their plan.

For a long time now the legacy crew had worked together, they had gelled into a family and they knew each other well, Mickie knew they would need all that knowledge and camaraderie to be able to operate the two ships at once so that they could have an edge on the UAN.

Mickie knew if push came to shove she would use the nuclear weapons she had on board, even if it was just to demonstrate them, for after all a weapon of mass destruction could only be used for one thing how much demonstrating would they take.

Mickie did not have time to ponder her decisions any more, Ted had singled her to come to the bridge and she knew it was not for a rousing game of trumps.

Standing up and pulling on her uniform Mickie stepped out on to her bridge and she glanced across the ocean at the Dauntless, she could barely see it even in the growing light but she knew somehow that Randy was looking at her.

Beth knew that this might be the last sunrise she ever saw, she had been here before, the day she had finally come to get her revenge for her husband, carrying with her a weapon that was so dangerous one slip and she could have been melted into the metal work of this very ship. Or at least what was left of the original Dauntless after Sambo had virtually blown her out of the water and taken her as his prisoner.

Over the months Beth's will to fight had been dwindled but she knew she would never give up fighting for her freedom, even if that did mean this was her final sunrise. Looking behind her Beth saw a flash of something in Randy's eyes, it was a look she knew well, it was one of hate, of the need for revenge and Beth knew where Randy was coming from, but her hate for Sambo ran far deeper and for far longer than Randy's had. This time she would be leaving this place without his dead body pinned to the front of her ship.

"Everyone stand ready, this time will do it right." Randy said as he and Mickie unbeknown to them stood up at the same time and ordered their ships in to Egyptian waters.

There a long one to make up for the horribly short last one.

I wont be updating four corners today as I have decided the more I write the pooer it gets so I am doing one chapter of one story per day. Sorry updates wont be so regular but I want to get them right not just finished. As ever please read and review the next chapter is going to be pretty intense and reviews make me write quicker so go for it you know you want to.

Thanks for reading.

As for my recommendation today it is a complete fic by TessaLOuise called perfect, it is well written and so totally sweet, I suggest you check it out.


	28. Tacking in to the wind

Hey I am back going to update both stories today as I have been absent, I thank you for your patients and I hope you enjoy this.

Tacking in to the wind

Mickie had sat back down to hide her trembling knees, she glanced from one face to another, all eyes were on her, this was where she had to stand or fall, there was no turning back now and no second chances.

"How many Mr Mizanin?" She asked her voice quite yet string, just the way she had intended it to be.

"Eleven, that I can see." He said, his voice was not so confident, every where they looked there was another UAN ship floating out there, they seemed to have no pattern and Mickie thought this was Sambo's plan, he knew they were coming he just didn't know it would be now.

Randy watched as the sun began to lighten the sky, Beth had backed off the Dauntless to fall behind Legacy and now she started to peel of to the left in a wide arch.

"You ok Beth?" Randy asked feeling the tension on the bridge crank up a notch as they saw Legacy shrink in the distance, they were now truly alone, only relying on their intuition on what Legacy was going to do.

"Better than fine Randy I am ready for this, I just hope Sambo isn't." Beth replied but the blonde did not turn around and meet Randy's gaze, she had here eyes focused on her controls and she was checking for any signs that the UAN ships knew they were there.

"So far so good Sir." Beth said as she slowed Dauntless down to a crawl and they drew up beside a quite vessel and Randy eyed it suspiciously.

"Its too quite here something is wrong." Randy said as Beth turned round this time and nodded with him in agreement.

"He knows we are here." She said with such assurance Randy didn't even bother to correct her reasoning.

"It's too quite, bring us in a wide arch Mr Rhodes I don't want to get too close to these ships." Mickie said as she stood back up and looked over Cody's shoulder, she watched as Legacy drifted passed the enemy ships without any of the moving. Legacy and the Dauntless were converging on the Egyptian harbour from separate sides and so far had come up against no opposition. Both Captain's were feeling like there was something wrong, but they had no choice but to press forward. They had come here to rescue the rebel prisoners and so they had to get to that prison and free them, resistance or not.

Mickie was thinking about speeding up their approach when a light suddenly came on. It was so bright Mickie had to shield her eyes from the glare.

"Damm it." Mickie said as she pulled herself back slightly to avoid the worst of the glare and was stopped in her tracks by a voice that still haunted her dreams.

"Are Captain James, glad you could make it, later than I expected but still well before the dead line. I can safely assume you are not going to come quietly."

"You assume correctly."

"Then so be it."

Mickie didn't like the sound of that, it seemed very final, and she felt a cold shiver run through her entire body.

"Come about Mr Rhodes full reverse!" Mickie ordered suddenly realising that they were caught between two UAN ships and the harbour.

"He is trying to trap us" She shouted as Cody pushed the engines in to reverse and Legacy pushed backwards as the two ships converged behind them.

Randy watched and listened as he realised that Mickie was getting closed in. none of the ships seemed interested in the Dauntless yet and Randy knew why.

"They don't know who we are, we have to take out these ships before they start firing on us." Randy said and Beth gave him a grin.

"Beth full 360, Mr Morrison fire at will." Randy ordered as he sat back down.

Beth turned on Dauntlessness' party piece, one engine in reverse on in forward sent the ship spinning 360 degrees on its on axis. As Dauntless spun it sent out a barrage of missiles, some were sent off in to the deep blue of the ocean but some found their marks. Two UAN ships the ones closest to them were struck before they could even turn on their weapons and another one that had been further out was also caught as it tried to limp away Randy ordered another round.

"You don't get too close to a Catherine wheel when its spinning." Randy said as he held on to his chair for deer life as the spinning ship created a slight G-force.

"I'll take your word for it Randy, there are two ships directly in front of us, trying to block us from helping Legacy." Beth said as the ship slowed down and came to rest facing the harbour and their trapped companions. Randy could see that Legacy was trying to fight its way out, but they had no room to manoeuvre and they had four ships converging on them.

"Take us through the gap." Randy said looking out at the two UAN ships that wee twice the size of the Dauntless and Beth looked over her shoulder, but it was John who spoke up.

"That gap is only two feet wider than we are, it's going to be a tight squeeze." He said and Randy just chuckled.

"I enjoy a challenge." He said and Beth could not have agreed with him more, firing up the engines once more she pushed Dauntless in to all ahead full and she even herd Randy take in a large gulp of air.

"Just like a band aid sir do it quick it hurts less." She said an Randy could here the smile in her voice even though he could not see it because his eyes were focused on the two very large ships right in his window.

"Take out that right hand ship, they are barely moving." Mickie shouted as another round of fire hit Legacy and more warning klaxons went off.

"Hull breach deck 14." Ted yelled as pipes burst and steam started to fill the room.

"Someone get that patched up! And send a repair team to deck 14 in a minute first I am going to take out that damm ship! Hard to Port full reverse." Mickie yelled as one of the crew man started to patch the blown pipe as Legacy swung around the ship who caused the damage.

"Torpedo lock." Ted shouted as Legacy rocked again narrowly missing another missile.

"Damm it Ted fire don't wait for me to say it!" Mickie said getting frustrated now, not only was her ship coming down around her ears but she couldn't shake off all these ships, that and she had no idea where the Dauntless was.

"Direct hit, they wont be causing us any more problems." Ted said a triumphant grin on his face, and Mickie gave him a quick flash of her teeth before getting brought back to the situation by another almightily crack.

"Direct hit to our Aft, they have taken out our rear weapons." Ted said looking less happy now. This was the first real damage Legacy had sustained and it made Mickie angry.

"Launch two targeted missiles take out their engines, all I want to see is debris!" She shouted and Ted did not question the order. Searching for the target lock on the lead ship he finally found one and launched the two missiles.

"I would get out of here Cody." Ted called to the helms man and Cody did not need telling twice. Legacy pushed away from the ship but was stopped by another ship behind them just as the UAN vessel went up in a cloud of smoke and flames.

"Direct.."

"Yeah we saw Ted now get us out of here we need more room, we are practically in the harbour." Mickie said standing up and checking Cody's monitors over his shoulder and seeing that they were less that half a mile from the shore line.

"I would love to Captain, but they just keep coming, they want to keep us in here." Ted said seeing yet more UAN vessels show up and right now Legacy was not in good shape.

Mickie took a look at the status updates and saw that the aft weapons were still under repair, and the hull breaches that had not yet been sealed would weaken further from more hits.

"Where the hell is Randy." Mickie said under her breath as tow more ships stated closing the small gap in front of them.

"Damm it Beth this is not a suicide run!" Randy shouted as he clutched on to the arm rest of his chair as Dauntless squeaked down the sides of both UAN vessels.

"It is me or is this gap getting smaller." Beth said and Randy could swear the blonde was enjoying herself.

"Nope it is." John said from behind Randy and Randy had to almost shut his eyes as there were completely enveloped by the two ships.

"Hey we could launch the side torpedoes, we have not used those yet." Beth said as the Dauntless was covered by shadows and the bride fell dark once more.

"In here it will take us out as well." Randy said listing for the sounds of cracking metal as their vice tighten but it did not come.

"Yeah but not if we launch just before we emerge." Beth said already typing in the controls Randy realised he did not really have a choice.

"Ok Mr Morrison on my mark fire both Starboard and Port torpedoes'." Randy said as he stood up and came over to Beth, placing both hands on her shoulders he lent forward and spoke softly in her ear.

"You are going to be the death of me." He smiled as he watched for the moment when he would hit the UAN ships but would escape the blast.

"Now John" Randy said as Beth pushed the Dauntless forward even more as the light stated to fill up the window once more and they didn't look back to see their damage. At that range there would be no pieces bigger than a chess board to see anyway.

"Can you see them?" Randy asked there was no need to ask who he was referring to. They had not seen Legacy since it had been pinned in the harbour and now they were here.

"Yes they are right in front of us in pretty bad shape commander." John said as Beth turned the ship slightly to head on an intercept cause.

"One UAN ship looks like the high commander has himself a new vessel Randy and it's the only one left standing." Beth grinned as the very obviously enormous ship was Sambo's new flag ship as all the other floated or sank around it.

"How is Legacy?" Randy asked cautiously as he glanced from Beth to John and back again.

"Looks like she has lost the Starboard engine and aft weapons. Without our help sir she is a sitting duck." John said as Randy stood up straight and walked back to his chair.

"Then by all means lets go and help them."

"You are defenceless Captain, prepare to be boarded." Sambo said once more at Mickie's refusal to back down.

"I wouldn't say that Commander I still have weapons, and if you try to step one foot on this ship I will blow us both to kingdom come." Mickie said her vice low and dangerous as a sensor started beeping behind her.

"It's the Dauntless Captain, they made it." Ted said unable to keep the smile from his face.

"It looks like it is you who should be worried High commander, maybe you should have considered a back up plan as well." Mickie said allowing all the smugness to came over the radio and it earned her a growl from Sambo. He ended the radio transmission abruptly and Mickie connected to Randy quickly.

"Randy are you ok?" Mickie said not caring who heard her now as she stood on her bridge her widows full of their sister ship.

"We are in better shape than you, but we need to deal with Sambo first." Randy replied and Mickie had to agree.

"Ok we can provide cover fire but that is it I am afraid we can only do circles at the moment." Mickie said trying to make it sound like a joke, but she knew he would here the sadness behind her humour.

"I know its fine Beth has a plan." Randy said not elaborating any so Mickie could only assume it was something she probably wouldn't like.

"Stay safe." Randy said his voice soft and promising so much more that Mickie could almost feel a tear forming in her eye as she stood on her damaged ship while he took his in to battle once more.

Randy didn't like Beth's plan, but he knew against such a heavily armoured vessel their missiles would not stand a chance. There was no way they could use the nuke so close to shore and they only had two torpedoes left, it wouldn't be enough to take down one ship.

"Some one has to get on that ship and take it down from the inside, I know where everything is and how the weapon works. It has to be me." Beth said folding her arms across her chest and staring at Randy defiantly.

"Beth you can't go alone, if something happens to you we will all suffer, there should be someone backing you up so if you can't complete the mission they can." Randy argued back equally defiant and Beth knew when she was beaten.

"Ok fine, but you will have to be able to keep up." Beth said looking at the three other people gathered on the bridge.

Melina and Maryse had come to join them as well as John who was standing over his tactical station monitoring the motionless UAN ship. It had been a stand off since Dauntless arrived and nothing had changed in the time they had been arguing, but that would not last forever.

"I will go with you, Melina is quite capable of Captaining this ship and Maryse can sail her." Randy said crossing his arms and daring the blonde to argue with him.

"Sir I have to protest, if that UAN ship starts firing we will have to leave you there, with all due respect the Captain will kill me." Melina said looking at Maryse who was not looking happy about the prospect either.

"Sorry Melina but you will have to deal with that bridge when we came to it, for now don't tell her or she might do something stupid." Randy said as Melina sighed and nodded at Randy.

"I don't men to interrupt sir but we can't sit here much longer they are going to know something is up.

"Ok move us in to range, don't stop ok hit and run, let's hope they follow you and we can take them out of the harbour." Randy said as he and Beth left for deck 10 and watched as Melina sat cautiously in the Captain's chair.

"What are they doing having a coffee break." Mickie said after almost ten minutes of nothing. The lack of activity though was giving the repair crews a chance to fix Legacy, only Mickie, Cody and Ted were left on the bridge and all three of them were almost sweating at the anticipation. Mickie had Ted lock a missile on Sambo's ship although it would cause only minimal damage it could prove vital.

"Ma'am, the Dauntless is moving, its headed straight for Sambo's ship." Ted said as he monitored the slow progress of the Dauntless. This ship was almost drifting towards the UAN ship, it was dwarfed by the vessel and Mickie could see physically through the window that something had been thrown over board.

"What was that Ted?" She said somewhere between curious and worried.

"Look like a rope of some kind, oh shit two people have just slid across to Sambo's ship looks like the are carrying something with them, something with very high levels of Uranium." Ted said his eye brows almost disappearing off his forehead.

"What the hell are they up to, and by they I mean Randy, I know its him on some silly revenge vendetta." Mickie said as she watched the Dauntless peel away and fire off a missile, it was enough to get Sambo following the small ship out of the harbour and away from Legacy.

"They are drawing them away, we can see what we can do about the prison." Mickie said turning on the radio.

"How long before we have that engine up and running Mr Kingston?" Mickie asked as the noise of a busy engine room came down the system.

"Not long Captain ten minutes maximum." He replied and Mickie allowed herself a small smile.

"Cody as soon as that engine is fixed take us in to dock." Mickie ordered as Sambo's ship and the Dauntless disappeared out of view.

Randy and Beth landed on the outer deck, whipping the pulley system back quickly out of the way Randy singled to the Dauntless to go.

"Now where?" He whispered to Beth who was clutching the inner casing of the launch shell she had hidden in a storage closet on deck 10.

"We need to go down, get about mid ship and find a power relay, that will cause the most damage." She said but Randy saw that she wasn't looking at him. Ever since they had slid across the gap between the ship she had been silent, her blue eyes flashing about the layout of the ship and Randy knew that he would have to keep an eye on her. There was something she was not telling him and he didn't like it one bit. Getting up off his knees Randy followed the blonde through a doorway and into a darkened corridor.

Beth looked around her, she knew there would be little resistance in this part of the ship and she knew exactly where Sambo was likely to be, all Beth had to do now was loose Randy and keep him out of harms way, at least until she could complete her plan.

Ok I know, I had to finish there or I would not have time to update four corners ;-).

I hope you enjoyed that one, it took me ages to come up for a title to this chapter, almost longer that actually writing it.

As ever feed back is a requirement (wink) and I hope you liked all the action more to come.


	29. Rise of the Phoenix

Hey I am back enjoy this chapter.

Rise of the Phoenix

The Legacy was up and running before ten minutes, Mickie had ordered them to dock and now the crew were standing on the outskirts of the prison.

There was little security and Ted and Cody had managed to get in through the gate with a simple pair of bolt cutters.

"Ok split up get everyone out and on to Legacy we cans ort them out later." Mickie ordered as the crew split up and went down in to the prison.

It was dark in the tunnels and the cells were large holding many people in dirty cramped conditions.

"Ted!" John Cena called from the bars of his cell and Ted swung round at the sound of his name. Ted couldn't help the frown that came on to his face, he couldn't believe that he was here to save someone that had betrayed them, but he could hardly leave him here.

"John do you know where everyone is?" Ted asked coming over as the rest of the cells occupancy began to stir.

"No they left late last night and no one has been back since." John said looking over his shoulder as Mark came up behind him, the big man placed his hand on the bars and smiled down at Ted.

"You have no idea how good it is too see you guys." He said and Ted gave the man a genuine smile as Mickie came up to join him.

"Cody has gone to get a lock breaking kit, we can't find the keys anywhere." She said nodding at Mark and giving John a brief glance before turning her attention back to the job at hand.

"Ok I don't think we need to rush though, it sounds like every soldier in this prison was on one of those ships." Ted replied as they stood in the gloom and waited.

"Maybe, but the Dauntless is still out there and they may need our help." Mickie said glancing at the stairway as noise from above alerted her to her helmsman's presence as he jogged down in to the darkness.

"I have it, this shouldn't take long." Cody said pulling on his goggles as he wedged the large metal spike into the solid looking lock and pulled back the hammer and struck it hard.

The resounding metal clang echoed off the stone walls and it made Mickie's teeth ache. Cody stuck again and Mickie could here the lock crack as it started to give under the pressure.

"Stand back guys this might throw off some shrapnel." Cody warned the two men standing at the bars and they soon retreated in to the shadows of their prison. With one more hit the lock split and Cody pushed the door open.

"One down three to go." He said grinning at the rebels coming passed him and filing up the stairs.

Mickie turned to Ted and gave him a small smile before her face once again turned serious.

"Keep and eye on them Ted, take Mike with you and keep them in a place where we can see them." She said quietly as she went along with Cody to the next cell where she noticed two people that looked oddly familiar. It only took Mickie a second to realise that these were Beth's parents and she urged Cody to get them out quickly. Mickie did not want to rescue them only in time to watch their daughter die.

Beth stopped and listened, she ducked behind a wall when she heard some guards passing by, but neither of them even looked in her direction. Randy was still by her side, he had been making sure the coast was clear behind them and carry the heavy pack of small explosives they had brought in case something went wrong with the main bomb.

"You know we should split up, you should go plant those charges it will save us some time, and the quicker I am off this ship the better." Beth whispered but she already saw Randy's head shaking.

"No way, yes it would be quicker, we would save time, but I don't think that is why you want to get rid of me it is?" Randy said as they both rushed for the opposite side of the corridor and ran in to another room.

"Don't be silly, I just thought it would be a good idea to blow this ship before it catches up with the Dauntless and starts firing on her." Beth hissed but Randy noticed the blonde's eyes darting about, her breathing was slightly erratic and he was worried about her.

"Beth I know what you want to do, because it's what I want to do to." Randy said calmly placing his hands on her shoulders and forcing her to look at him.

"I don't know what you mean." She said not meeting his gaze until Randy forced her too.

"Randy I want to kill Sambo, but I am not suicidal." She said, but her eyes were telling him something different, he held her gaze as she finally expelled the breath she had been holding and her shoulders dropped.

"I want to see him suffer Randy, I want to see the look in his eyes when he knows that he is taking his last breath. He hurt me Randy he made me do things that no human should do to another, he humiliated me, he abused me and he made me beg for my life on many occasions, I will not make him beg I will not give him the chance even if I have to die to." Beth said her eyes growing dark as her anger built and Randy was shocked by the anger in her voice.

"There is no way I am letting you do that Beth, we can get him, we can sink his ship and we can watch as his ashes fall into the water, from the safety of our bridge ok." He said trying to offer Beth a smile but something was telling him she had no intention of it going down like that.

"I'm sorry you feel that way." Beth said and before Randy knew it Beth had swung some thing heavy and solid at his head and all he knew after that was darkness.

Beth dropped the fire hose she had spotted on the wall and had clutched behind her back while Randy had been talking. She really didn't want to have to hit him, but there was no way she was going to let him ruin her plan.

With some effort Beth pulled Randy out of sight and closed the door behind him, she picked up the back pack and took off down the corridor.

They had managed to save over one hundred rebels, now Legacy was in pursuit of the Dauntless, she seemed to be weaving in a zigzag pattern, making sure they had not gotten too far away but keeping just out of reach of the High commanders ship. Mickie had ordered Legacy to follow as soon as the doors had been shut. Most of the rebels were in the cargo holds, some had been taken to the medical bay but she had asked Mark to join her on the bridge, she needed some details about what had happened.

"They came in the middle of the night, Ten ships, we did not stand a chance." Mark said as he sat in randy chair and Mickie was having to fight the urge not to ask Mark to get out of that chair.

"I see, did Sambo say why he had taken you?" Mickie asked not looking at the rebel but locking her gaze on the windows.

"Yeah he did, he took great pleasure in saying how he was going to trap you in the harbour, allow you to think you had out smarted him and then wham close the gap." Mark said emphasising his point by slapping has hands together which made Mickie jump.

"Ok Mark we get the point, I guess he didn't plan on the Dauntless." Mickie said with a small smirk, but its soon fell off her face when the massive ship of the high commanders cam in to view. They had set a cause which would put the Dauntless on a intercept cause with them as they doubled back non one of their zigzags. How the high commander had not realised what they were doing was beyond Mickie, but she reasoned that they were keeping so close to the high commander's ship that they were just enough of a target to peruse and not wonder about where they were going. In the end the Dauntless would be no match for the high commanders' new ship, at the moment though they just couldn't catch them.

"Mr Rhodes set a parallel cause with the Dauntless if they know we are ok we can run for it, I think we need to choose our battles an today we have chanced our luck enough." Mickie said as Cody changed cause slightly so Legacy would now be right along side the Dauntless when she caught up.

Mickie twiddled her thumbs as the minutes ticked passed she had a bad feeling about this and she needed to talk to Randy badly, now was not the time for communications silence, she needed to know what was happening over there.

"Are we in communications range Mr Debasie?" Mickie asked finally as the dots on the horizon became clearer and Mickie could even see the details on the Dauntlessness' stern.

"Yes Ma'am." Ted replied and Mickie needed no further encouragement.

"Dauntless this is Captain James, what's going on over there Randy?" Mickie said starting off formally, but finishing with her emotions barely in check.

"Captain it's good to see you, but I am afraid Randy is not here." Melina's voice came back as Mickie fears were confirmed. She had convinced herself that it was not Randy she had seen launching himself on to Sambo's ship, just a trick of the light or something, but now she had no choice but to believe it.

"God Damm it what is he playing at, don't tell me he is on Sambo's ship." Mickie said it wasn't a question and Melina was silent for a second.

"The plan is good Captain, the Commander and Beth went over and they have planted explosives all over the ship, they are going to steal a life boat and blow the ship as soon as they are off." Melina said and Mickie placed her hand over her face in frustration.

"Nothing we can do now any way Lieutenant, keep an eye open for that boat and keep just out of reach of that ships weapons, I suggest though we start to head towards Hawaii, I know there is not much there, but we have to drop our refugees off somewhere and that is as good a place as any." Mickie concluded as Melina agreed and shut off the connection.

Mickie turned to Ted who gave her a rye smile and then she turned back to Mark who was still sitting in Randy's chair and Mickie narrowed her eyes at him.

"Mark would you like to go and join the others, I will make sure we get you some food." She smiled at him sweetly and the big man stood to go.

"Thank you Captain, you are better people than we could every be." Mark said and the sincerity in his voice softened Mickie's hard resolve somewhat and she smile at him.

"Maybe we have just been luckier than most, fighting to survive everyday must take it's toll on ones will." Mickie said with a small pat to Mark's arm as he turned to leave.

"Indeed Captain, but it should not have the impact it had on our kindness, you have shown us that." He said as he left the bridge and got on to the lift. Mickie stared at the closed doors for sometime before Ted's flashing console got her attention.

Beth placed the last of the explosive on to the power cable just outside the bridge, she had been hiding in a ventilation duck for five minutes while solders came and went from the bridge. Beth now saw that there were only four men and Sambo left and they would be easy to take out. Getting out the gun Randy had given her she crept to the slightly open doorway and fired a shot in to the back of the first guards head.

Standing up and firing at the second guard she caught him in the upper chest and he dropped like stone.

"Stop or I will kill you all." She said to the two remaining guards and to the dark man now staring at her a rye smile on his face.

"Do as she say's boys, Bethy here is a fabulous shot." Sambo said as both guards put down their weapons at Beth indication.

"Get out!" Beth said in a low voice and the guards looked at Sambo who nodded his head.

"Don't worry me and Bethy go way back, just make sure the engine room get's my instructions." Sambo said his voice turning slightly serious and Beth knew the man was trying to communicate something secretly to his guards, not that it mattered no one on this ship would be getting off it ever again.

Beth turned and closed the doors behind the guards, there was no lock, but it didn't matter this was not going to take long.

Sambo eyed the blonde suspiciously, he had seen this woman with every emotion under the sun. Fear, relief, happiness even, but never with the determination he saw now. As Beth turned around Sambo notice her remove something from the backpack she was holding.

His eyes growing as wide as Beth's smile as she held it in her hands and levelled her eyes with his.

"You know the man who made this weapon is dead, he managed to expose himself to the gas, would you like to know what happened to him High Commander?" Beth said her voice almost monotone, but her face vibrant with emotion.

"I will tell you shall I." Beth continued when Sambo did not give an immediate response.

"He melted, all his atoms reduced to their simplest form, it took a while though, the look of pain on hi face was horrific, and I knew that I could do nothing to help him. It was like watching him liquefy from the inside out. First the blood began to leak out of every orifice, then his skin began to peel away." Beth said as she closed the gap between herself and Sambo who had not moved his eyes from the small sphere she was holding.

"Then all his insides collapsed into a puddle which evaporated into the metal work of the ship, followed by his bones which fizzed as they went, there was nothing left of him but a tangy smell and a shiver than runs down you spine when you go to deck 10. now High Commander it's your turn to go to hell." Beth said as she threw the sphere up in to the air. Both people in the room watched as it sailed up turning end over end as it started its downward journey before it crashed into the hard floor of the bridge.

Sambo was too shocked to move, he made no attempt to catch the sphere and as it smashed into the floor he braced himself for the end.

Opening one eye he had not realised he had shut Sambo shook his head and watched as the white powder fizzed and sank into the metal.

"Looks like you forgot to check your sell by date Bethy." Sambo said an evil grin coming to his face as Beth's jaw dropped in shock. She had not even thought the weapon would not work, she had not planned for this, there would have been no way to test it anyway, and now she had thrown the gun into the back pack and the back pack outside of the door so if Randy found them he would still have it and the remote detonator for the explosives.

"I suppose that's it then." Beth said knowing the fighting now would be useless as Sambo came towards her, pulling a knife out from under his robe he placed it just above her breasts and swung her around so she was pushed against one of the consoles, leaning back over it painfully until she had to let out as gasp.

"This is how I prefer you my beautiful fire bird, afraid." Sambo growled as he sliced off a piece of her hair and placed it under his nose and in hailed deeply.

"Put the knife down."

Beth snapped her attention to the doorway as the deep voice penetrated the silence within and Sambo's head shot in the same direction.

Randy was looking at them both, gun out at full arms length pointing straight at Sambo's head.

"Or what you will shoot me, do you think you can kill me before I kill her?" Sambo said an evil smirk coming to his face as he placed the bade at Beth's chest once moor.

"Randy go blow the ship forget about me." Beth said as Sambo clamped his free hand over her mouth so he was now twisting his head round so he could look at Randy and hold Beth in place.

"Go on then, be the hero why don't you blow this ship right now, make sure I die this time." Sambo said as he drew his arm back.

Randy watched the blade push forward as he fired the gun, the bullet flew towards Sambo's head as his knife plunged in to Beth's chest.

Arrrgghhh sorry I know please review and I will update tomorrow if you ask nicely.

I will go update four corners now please don't kill me I'm still young and have a full life to lead. Lol

Thanks for reading.

XxX


	30. Somewhere beyond the sea

As promised I am back please enjoy.

_Give me a good ship to sail upon the open sea,_

_Clear the sky of the clouds_

_So the stars can shine down on me._

_My heart will forever be longing for that ocean coloured blue,_

_But pine now it does for something else_

_My heart also belongs to you._

_Give me a good ship to sail upon the open sea,_

_Won't you stand by my side_

_And together we will be free._

_Give me a good ship to sail upon the open sea,_

_Give me a crew to sail her with_

_And I will provide a great Legacy._

Somewhere beyond the sea

Randy ran to where the two people had fallen, he looked down at Sambo's lifeless body, a red pool of blood was making it's own macabre pattern on the floor fanning out from the dark man's head. Randy looked in to his wide open eyes and saw that whatever life was once there was now gone. Turning sharply to Beth, Randy was on his knees in a second, he pulled of his jacket and padded it up so the arms hung loose. Reaching forward he placed one hand on the knife and pulled straight up. Beth made a slight sound and Randy knew she was ok for now. Pressing his makeshift pad down on her chest Randy used the loose sleeves to tie it securely around Beth's torso.

He looked behind him at a sound but nothing had moved, there was no noise what so ever apart from the droning of the engines. Placing one hand under Beth's back and the other under her knees Randy lifted her and pressed her close to his chest. She was a dead weight in his arms, but she was still breathing. He could feel her warm breath on his neck as he began to run through the ship.

Feeling the remote detonator in his trouser pocket Randy thanked the stars for that small miracle decision he had made as he pushed through a door way and burst on to the open deck.

"It's all going to be ok Beth, just hang in there." Randy said to the very pale looking woman as he lowered her into the nearest life boat and climbed in behind her. Randy didn't know why no one had tried to stop them and he wasn't going to hang around to find out either.

Lowering the life boat Randy checked on Beth, her breathing was shallow and her face was so pale Randy thought he might just be imaging the slight rise and fall of her chest.

The small craft hit the water and Randy fired up the small on board motor, once he was clear of the giant ship he finished out the remote from his pocket and pushed the button.

"Captain, a life boat has just dropped into the water Starboard side of the UAN ship." Ted said and Mickie snapped her head in his direction a smile lighting up her features.

"Melina get away from that ship it's going to blow." Mickie said getting on the radio fast and receiving and immediate reply from her chief engineer.

"Right on it Ma'am. Se you on the other side." Melina said as she ordered the Dauntless hart to port.

"Mr Rhodes hard to Starboard rendezvous with that life boat." Mickie said as both ships peeled away from the doomed vessel. Not a minute later the ship went up in a series of explosions that reminded Mickie of fireworks on the forth of July. Looking out the windows Mickie could see debris ashes and bits of things she didn't want to think about falling from the sky as the smoke billowed out from the sinking ship.

"We have reached them Ma'am." Mike interrupted her reprieve and Mickie ordered the bow doors to be opened as she ran down towards the docking bay to meet her missing crew members.

Randy was holding his makeshift pad against Beth's chest, the blood was flowing freely from the wound now and as the doors opened to admit first Ted then Mickie, Randy shouted for them to get the doctor.

"Quick it's Beth, she is hurt bad, she needs the Doc." Randy shouted tears running down his face as Mickie caught his eyes and her own tears welled up in her eyes and made her vision blur.

"Get Dr Borne now!" She yelled at whoever was closet to the radio but there was no need, the doctor had already been on his way just in case and he burst into the loading dock as if on cue.

"Stand back let me have a look." Evan said as he swung into the small life boat and glanced from Randy to Beth's wound and back again. He bent down and checked her breathing and pulse and found both.

"Go and grab a stretcher form the hall way we need to move her now." Evan ordered as Cody ran to collect the item, as he passed Mickie she could see his wet face but she chose to ignore it as Randy caught her eye whilst Evan worked on Beth.

The moment lasted only a second but so much was said in that one look, Mickie could see the fear clearly in his eyes but more than that she could see the guilt, the weight of knowing her could have done something more to have prevented this.

Before Mickie got chance to try and reassure him Cody was sprinting back with the stretcher and between them they lifted Beth on to it.

Randy, Cody, Ted and Mickie carried the stretcher up to the medical bay whilst Evan kept a check on her breathing whilst they went.

"Ok right on to the operating table, on three lift." Evan said as he counted down and Beth was moved to the table and the two nurses came around the prone woman and started attaching monitors and tubes.

"Come on guys you need to leave now so I can do my work." Evan said indicating that all four people in the room should go out in to the main ward. Each turned to look at the other but it was Mickie who moved first.

"Come on there is nothing more we can do for her here." She said wanting desperately to stay but knowing the Doc was right, none of them would be able to help.

Cody and Ted moved first filing back into the medical bay their heads hung low as Ted placed his hand on Cody's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"Come on I think you have a ship to sail." He said to the young man and it earned him a smile.

"You will let us know as soon as there is news." Cody said turning to Mickie who nodded her head quickly as she realised that randy was still staring at the now closed door, hand on his face and shoulder slumped.

"Randy?" Mickie said placing her hand in to his and he gave her a small smile, sniffing back some of the dried moisture he stood up straighter and took a deep breath.

"I guess someone should go and tell her family." He said, but Mickie could see the look on his face was not a happy one and she knew this time it was her job to protect him.

"I think you will find that is Captain's prerogative." Mickie said dropping his hand and turning on her heel, not allowing him the chance to protest, Mickie had left the room and was halfway down the hall before she realised just what she had to do.

Mickie entered the cargo bay with her head held high, she had to at least project the feeling that she was in control, that she wasn't scared that her friend was going to die, and that she was certain everything would be ok.

"Mr and Mrs Cena?" Mickie asked coming over to the two people she had identified as Beth's parents earlier, John was also sitting with them and he stood up immediately.

"How is Beth?" He asked straight away and Mickie wondered how he had found out, but news had a way of travelling this ship quickly and it had been the biggest news going.

"The doctor has her in surgery now, he is hopeful though." Mickie said keeping her voice quite she did not want to start any kind of riot.

"Can we see her Captain?" Mrs Cena spoke up for the first time, she had a soft voice and she was tall, her long dark blonde hair hung loose over her shoulders. It was her deep blue eyes that caught Mickie's attention though, there was something in their depths that told Mickie this woman was far more intelligent than she let on.

"I'm afraid you can't right now the doctor is working on her." Mickie replied as Mr Cena stepped forward wrapping an arm around his wife and looked down at Mickie.

"We know she is in a bad way, but we would really like to see her, we know what happened last time and that is why you are keeping us down here, but please let me see my little girl." He said giving his son a warning look and Mickie could tell just how much John was hating himself right now.

"Please Mickie let them go, leave me here, its only what I deserve." John said and Mickie looked at him properly for the first time since he attacked Randy and she sighed and turned away.

"Follow me." She said as Beth's parents followed her up and out towards the Medical bay.

Mickie now sat in her ready room, she had taken Beth's parents to the medical bay where she had found Randy sat in one of the chairs, head still in his hands. She had practically ordered him out of there when he had given them an update.

"Evan says he has stopped the bleeding, there was a little damage to her pulmonary vein but he has stitched it up and all he needs to do now is give her a blood transfusion for the blood loss. Cody went to find volunteers I don't think we are going to have a shortage." Randy said his eyes darting from one face to another until Mickie had practically pushed him out of the room and offered the now vacant chairs to Mr and Mrs Cena.

Evan had not come out long after that and Mickie had left them in his capable hands and retreated to her ready room. Legacy and Dauntless were now on course for Hawaii, they still had over half a days worth of sailing left and now night had taken its hold on the ocean Mickie had ordered her crew to sleep, leaving just a skeleton staff to keep the ship straight.

She had spoken to Melina at length and the woman was holding up but they were very tired over there and both ships had taken a battering. The dauntlessness' engines had been stretched to the max and were now showing signs of degrading and Legacy was barrelling along with holes in her sides. Mickie could not concentrate on any of that right now, she pulled her hair out of the clip she had pinned it up in to over thirty six hours ago and ran her hands though her greasy hair. She had not slept in day's but right now she knew she would not be able to, but she could use a shower. Her body felt grimy, dried sweat clung to her skin and her uniform had seen better days. Getting up Mickie opened the door and gave a quick nod to Chris at the helm and spotted Mike still at the opps station.

"Ensign make sure you get some sleep ok." She said quietly as she walked passed, placing her hand on his arm and catching his eyes.

"No problem Captain, Ensign Barrette is due any minute I will catch some shut eye then." He whispered back and Mickie grinned at the young man as she entered the lift and leaned back against the wall.

She knew that Randy had probably gone back to the medical bay and not to bed, Mickie almost changed cause and went to find him to order him back to his cabin, but she decided against it. if she went there she too would be sat by Beth's bedside waiting for the woman to open her eyes and come back to them, she would sit there and try to ease Randy's guilt but have no more luck then he would have on her. No she would get clean first then she would go and drag Randy away from the medical ward to get some sleep.

Randy was dozing off next to Beth's sleeping form. Evan had managed to repair all the damage and given her a blood transfusion. She had been moved to the main ward and he had been given a chair to continue to watch over her.

Her parents had said what they had to say, given their daughter their support and had then retreated back to the cargo bay knowing they could do nothing but wait now, they had thanked Randy and Randy was still not sure why. If he had looked after her properly, talked her out of it, she wouldn't have ended up like this. He had let his own desire to see the look in Sambo's eyes cloud his own judgement in the end. He should have shot him as soon as he saw him. No he had to call out to him, so the bastard would look him in the eyes and know who was going to be the one responsible for his end. It almost got Beth killed and Randy was not going to leave her side until he knew she was going to be ok.

As Randy allowed his eyes to slip closed he felt a pressure on his hand, looking down at where he held Beth's hand he saw her fingers twitch and he shot his gaze up to her eyes.

As he watched them flutter then open a crack his smile almost consumed his whole face and Beth's return smile although slightly crooked warmed him from the inside out.

"God this can't be heaven it hurts too much." Beth croaked out as Randy reached behind him for a cup of water. Sitting Beth up slightly Randy held the cup for her to drink and Beth swallowed the water greedily.

"Hey steady there." Randy said taking the cup away as Beth collapsed back on to her pillow with a wince.

"Randy is he? did you?" Beth asked him a seriousness to her voice now which demanded his honesty.

"He is very much dead one hundred percent." Randy replied as he saw a small smile cross the blonde's face before it turned into a wince.

"Do you want me to get you the Doctor?" Randy said concern etching his voice as Beth shook her head.

"No, I think I have had enough prodding and poking for one day thank you." She said again trying to smile and wiggle in to a more comfortable position so she could see Randy's face.

"Why are you still here anyway?" Beth said an accusing tone to her voice which Randy knew well he had herd it in Mickie's often enough.

"I was making sure you are ok." He said as if it should be obvious.

"I will be fine Randy, thanks to you, don't you dare blame yourself for what happened, I knew what I was doing from the moment I heard about what Sambo had done. I had no intention of returning with you, I just needed some one I could trust with my ship, and I found them, you." Beth said placing her hand in his once more and squeezing it lightly.

"Beth why, why didn't you trust me to help you?" Randy said as she turned her face away as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"It wasn't you I didn't trust it was me, I couldn't trust that I wouldn't kill you by mistake, but I guess it doesn't matter now, Sambo is dead, I am fine and you are sitting here staring at me whilst the woman you have been pining for, for days is probably wondering where you are." Beth scolded him and Randy was slightly shocked at the sudden change in subject.

"No she ordered me to my cabin to sleep, she thinks I am there." Randy said watching the woman shake her head.

"Bull plop go and see her Randy, go and be a strong pair of arms for someone who need them more than me right now." Beth said with a dramatic yawn to emphasize her point.

"Go on I am tired can't spend the whole night chin wagging with you." She said closing her eyes as Randy stood up and left the room with one glance back at the now sleeping form of Beth Phoenix.

Mickie threw on her robe over her naked body as she ran a towel through her damp hair. She was feeling so much better, but the shower had done little for the tiredness now creeping in to her bones.

Mickie knew though that being tired for her did not always mean that she could sleep, it just meant that she had less energy to shout at people.

Just as she was walking in to her bedroom a quite knock came at the door. Wondering briefly who it was Mickie was only slightly shocked to see Randy's dishevel and tired frame in her door way.

"Randy." She breathed out stepping aside to let him in and he accepted immediately.

"Beth's awake." He spoke as soon as she closed the door and Mickie thought she had never heard such wonderful words fall from her lips.

"Oh that's so great, I was planning on going down there to see her." Mickie said looking Randy in the eyes and she saw him shake his head.

"She is sleeping now and she told me to leave, actually she told me to come here." Randy said shyly and Mickie just about managed to hold of the blush.

"Did she well I might just be having a few words with Miss Phoenix when she wakes up." Mickie said with no malice in her voice what so ever.

"Maybe, you might have to get in line though." Randy said and they both smiled at one another, knowing that the whole crew would want to make sure their blonde rebel was going to be ok and they may even have to write schedules for visits.

"I'm tired, we don't have to back on the bridge for another five hours, how about you crash here for a little while." Mickie said going back in to her bedroom and disappearing from Randy's sight behind the out cropping wall.

When she stepped back in to view she was wearing a long T-shit that cover her to just below her buttocks and Randy was lost for words for a second.

"umm yeah I could use the sleep." He said quickly stripping down to his own T-shirt and boxers he climbed in beside Mickie once more and pulled her close to his chest.

"What are we doing Mickie?" He asked after a few seconds and Mickie smirked at him.

"I believe it's called spooning." She said as he slapped her lightly on the shoulder.

"That's not what I meant, normally people date, they hold hands, they kiss, they don't just sleep cuddling together first." Randy said as Mickie turned her head so she could see him out of the corner of her eye.

"I never professed to being normal commander, and technically we have kissed so there." Mickie said as she turned to snuggled back in to the blankets.

"That was not a proper kiss that was a friendly peck." Randy said remembering their brief encounter in the observation lounge.

"Maybe one day you will get a chance to put that right Mr Orton, but not tonight, go to sleep Randy, we can talk tomorrow." With that Randy placed a kiss on Mickie's head and felt her breathing slip into a even rhythm as she fell in to a peaceful sleep.

Ha hope I am back on your I love you list's again, had you going there for a while though didn't I.

Not done yet though so stay tuned for more as I will be updating as quick as I can this week and I am feeling pretty creative today so I am off to do four corners for you as well.

Happy reading, oh and the poem at the start all mine so hands off.


	31. Kitsungari

Tadar! I am back sorry for the delay, please enjoy.

KITSUNEGARI

When Mickie woke up she had to move Randy's arm from around her waist, she turned to look at his peaceful sleeping face. She smiled at the total look of contentment on his features, he had a slight smile touching his lips and the worry lines he seemed to be permanently wearing these days had vanished. Reaching on her hand she lightly stoked his cheek, but he did not stir and she did not want to disturb him. Getting up quickly and quietly Mickie threw on a clean uniform and pulled her hair up in to a perfect bun and gave herself a quick glance in the mirror.

"You'll do." She said to her reflection as she pulled open her door and walked down the quite corridor.

It seemed that the ship was still asleep, no one walked about checking the ship, no laughter could be heard coming from work stations and no chatter between the crew made the ship sound almost deserted.

Mickie paused at a window and noticed that the sun was just coming up and it looked like it was going to be another beautiful day. Mickie hoped she was not just thinking about the weather, but now for once they could have some piece and quite.

Pushing open the door to the medical bay Mickie saw Beth immediately lying on her back a monitor behind her keeping them alert to the steady beating of her heart.

Creeping closer Mickie almost jumped when Beth opened one eye and scowled at her.

"Shouldn't you be staring at someone else right now?" The blonde said opening both eyes and trying to sit up, without success.

"I couldn't sleep any more, it's a vice what can I say." Mickie replied pulling the chair closer to Beth and sitting down in it slowly.

"Your damm hopeless Mickie James." Beth sighed and closed her eyes once more, only to open them again and turn her head to the brunette next to her.

"Go on then tell me, why are you here then?" Beth said finally when Mickie said nothing and Beth noticed for the first time the strong and independent Captain looked nervous.

"When we drop off the rebels, your family, I want to try and get home." Mickie said meeting Beth's gaze and the blonde could feel that there was something more coming.

"I want you to join us, you risked your life for this ship, stupidly I might add, but risk it you did, and with no expectations." Mickie stopped at the sad look on Beth's face, she could see that the woman was torn and Mickie didn't really want to put too much pressure on her.

"In your world, all races are free? Any one can be anything?" Beth asked her curiosity getting the better of her and Mickie smiled.

"Yes, it has been like that for a while now, and someone with your talents, well you could do anything you wanted." Mickie took hold of Beth's hand and gave it a small squeeze.

"I could do that here now, thanks to you, Sambo is dead, his fleet is pretty much destroyed, we now have a powerful ship in the Dauntless, and I would like to be around to bring about that change, to make my world resemble something like yours." Beth spoke softly obvious regret in her voice but Mickie understood, she wanted to go back to her own world more than anything, and she believed her crew did too.

Beth was no different in the wish to be home to make a difference here.

"I know, I thought I would try one more time. Get better Beth don't go trying to run around the ship before you are ready, your not going to be changing any future if Dr Borne has to strap you down in here." Mickie said standing up and patting the blonde on the shoulder as she stood to leave.

"Ha! Yeah well your one to talk, anyway I quite like it here, good food, soft bed and annoying command staff coming to disturb me all the time." Beth winked at Mickie as she arched her eyebrow at her then exited the medical bay.

When Mickie got to the bridge Randy as already sitting in his chair, he turned to smile at her and she returned the gesture. Feeling a blush rise in her cheeks she decided to distract herself by asking for a report.

"All systems functioning Captain, but the Starboard engine is sluggish and we have several holes in our hull that could do with repair." Ted replied to the barked command and Mickie glanced up at him.

"Any good news Mr Debasie?"

"Yeah we only have about a hour before we get to Hawaii and the weather is perfect." He grinned back and Mickie threw him a pretend scowl.

"Captain James to Dauntless, how are you guys holding up?" Mickie spoke over the radio and Melina replied almost immediately.

"Tired, can't wait to get off this damm boat, but we are ok."

"Good not long to go now Lieutenant, I promise I will let you have some breakfast before I get you to over haul Legacy's engines." Mickie said a rye smile on her face as Melina almost coke on what Mickie could only assume was coffee.

"Ma'am you are cruel and unusual." She said finally and Mickie grinned at Randy who looked like the cat that just got the cream and Mickie had to turn her face away.

"Mr Rhodes how does she feel?" Mickie asked changing the subject quickly so that Randy didn't express what he obviously wanted to say here in public and Cody turned around briefly to look at Mickie, not letting the colour in her cheeks go unnoticed.

"She feels like something big is hitching a lift, but nothing I can't handle." The young man said and Mickie just nodded there was nothing else for her to enquire about now and she felt Randy place his hand on her arm.

Turning to look at him she noticed that he had lent forward so that he was now bent almost over her chair and he was searching her eyes for some clue as to what she was thinking.

"I missed waking up next to you this morning." Randy whispered and he liked the fact that Mickie was now blushing openly and it was all his doing.

"Sorry I had something to do that couldn't wait."

"I will get over the disappointment, I was hoping we could spend the rest of our lives waking up together." Randy said, not caring who heard or how profound this was, he had nearly lost people too many times to wait for the perfect moment, now he was just going to say what he felt, consequences be dammed.

"Randy I umm, maybe we should talk about this some other time." Mickie flustered, trying to hide her elation at his words, but also her fear at realising for the first time just how much she felt for this man.

"Maybe, but I just had to say it." Randy replied finally sitting back in his seat and clicking on his monitor to check on repair and crew reports.

Cody smiled from his seat, he had heard the whole conversation and now he couldn't wait to go and tell Beth, she would be pleased.

The Dauntless was parked behind Legacy, both crews were on the docking port, what was left of it anyway along with nearly a hundred rebels.

Most of the damage to the Island had been superficial, bar blowing up the re-fuelling station the rest was just mess and debris. The damage to the Island was not as bad as they had first imagined, most of the damage was to the outer perimeter, so that it would look bad to approaching ships. Randy thought it had worked well, but now there were making their way towards the settlement they could see most of it was salvageable.

"In a week you won't recognise the place." Mark said while Michelle picked up a piece of wood and threw it out of their path.

"Nothing some elbow grease won't fix that's for sure." She said looping her arm though her husbands and strode along next to Mickie and Randy.

"The Dauntless is staying with you." Mickie said shocking the others into stopping and she had to turn around to look at them.

"I thought Beth and you guys would be taking it with you?" Mark said obvious surprise on his face.

"Beth is pretty sure she is staying here with you guys, to rebuild, and its her ship, its stays with her. Even if we wanted to take it we couldn't, we don't have enough man power to run two ships and you guys need one." Mickie continued walking along the beach as the others followed her.

"We could use her, she is an amazing ship, Beth is a very cleaver woman, but I am surprised she wishes to remain with us when she has a wonderful opportunity to be free." Michelle said and the four of them walked back up towards the harbour.

"I have found that one can only truly be free when you acquire it for yourself." Mickie said with a slow nod as Randy took hold of her fingers and gave them a small squeeze. He knew that saying goodbye to Beth was going to be hard for them all. She had only been with them a short time, but had provided the Captain and her crew with great support and sprit.

"I don't think truer words have ever been spoken." Mark said finally as they re joined the rebels and some of the Legacy crew on the docks as the bow doors opened and they could start to unload some supplies.

It took them only a couple of hours to transfer the supplies off Legacy and on to Hawaii, mainly because there were literally a hundred people helping. The rebels insisted that the legacy crew rested and Mickie was quick to take them up on their offer.

She and Randy had discussed their future briefly and both had agreed that the UAN would be licking their wounds and wondering which way was up right now, it would give them the best chance of getting home they had had in a while.

The rebels would be safe for the time being and they had Dauntless, they could move or defend themselves if necessary.

Right now though both Mickie and Randy were enjoying a nice relaxing sun bath on the beech. It was not Mickie style to leave the Legacy without a senior member of staff on board, but right now she didn't care, they had been through too much to worry about ships business, and she had to admit she was enjoying her alone time with him.

Randy watched Mickie out of the corner of his eye. She seemed relaxed if a little distracted, that was her way though, mind always working, always coming up with the next plan of action. Randy knew his first job when they got home would be teaching her to unwind.

Lying back on his towel he placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, letting the sun beat down on his warm skin and feeling the soft breeze was making him very tired. Even though the best night's sleep he had in ages was only last night Randy figured that he was owed more than the five hours he got anyway and relaxed his muscles as he felt Mickie drape her arm across his stomach and he pulled her in closer.

"You know, we could just stay here, send Ted back and tell them we were lost at sea." Randy said playfully as Mickie gave his stomach a playful slap.

"You wish." She whispered tiredness evident in her voice as Randy caressed her arm with his thumb until she was sound asleep.

Cody was sitting next to Beth's bedside, he felt bad leaving her in this dreary medical bay, while everyone else was enjoying the sunshine. She was still not up for moving around, she had to let her body heal and recover from the massive blood loss. At the moment every time she tried to stand up the world kept spinning and she had to sit back down pretty quickly. Cody had helped her get to the bathroom, much to her protest, but it was preferable than having to go in a bed pan. Now they were say playing cards while Chris and John sat on the bridge keeping a eye on things.

"Are your sure you wouldn't rather be outside?" Beth said after wining once more as Cody collected up the pack and shuffled them.

"No I told you, I like it here, and I burn easily, not to mention how I hate the feel of sand in my clothes." Cody said with as slight shudder. Beth decided not to question it, she felt like there was something he was not saying, but for now it was nice for her to have some company, plus he had brought her news of Randy and Mickie and it was good.

"Do you think the UAN will come for you again." Cody said suddenly and Beth looked at him from over the top of her cards, levelling her gaze with his.

"Its as certain as the sun rising in the sky tomorrow morning." She replied before examining her cards once more.

"Then you have to come with us, I don't want you to be taken by them again." Cody blurted almost throwing his cards down and Beth sat back in shock.

"Umm Cody, it ok." Beth said reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder and Cody picked up her hand and held it in his.

"I really don't want to loose you." He said his voice quite and Beth felt a small smile creep on to her lips.

"Your going to loose me either way Cody, I can't come, I have too much responsibility here." Beth said looking at their joined hands then back into his eyes.

"Then I will stay here, you need someone to sail the Dauntless, who better than me?" Cody said beaming, but Beth's face fell and Cody's elation was soon lost.

"I would love you to stay Cody, I mean that but I would never want you to give up going home." Beth said as she placed her free hand on his cheek and moved her fingers to caress it lightly.

"I would you know, I don't really have a family, my parents and me are well, different and we don't really see eye to eye, I doubt they even k now I am missing." Cody said leaning into Beth's hand before she took it away.

" Cody sometimes it takes something big to shock us into acknowledging how much we love someone. I think we have a case in point right on this ship, you will find once you get home, just how much your parents missed you." Beth said as Cody lent forward and captured her lips with his.

The suddenness of it caught Beth off guard but she did not pull away, she was not going to let another missed opportunity pass her by, just because it wasn't going to be forever did not mean it could not be good for right now.

Cody pulled back as the ships engines roared to life. "What the hell!" Cody shouted as he stood up almost knocking over the card table in the process.

"Mr Rhodes report to the bridge" John Morrison's voice sounded panicked and with a final glance at Beth who was waving him to go Cody burst out of the medical bay and sprinted to the lift.

It only took him ten seconds to realise what was going on once he got there. The monitors were beeping all over the place and he checked tactical for better readouts.

"Six UAN ships all on a heading for this Island, I have called the Captain, but she says everyone is scattered." John said looking from Chris and then back to Cody.

"Ok I will go out and see who I can round up, keep those engines running Mr Jericho." Cody said as he didn't wait for the reply and rushed off the bridge.

Mickie almost crashed into Cody as he rushed down the dock.

"Captain!" He shouted as he held on to Mickie to stop her from falling over as Randy and Mark came up behind her bringing most of the crew along with them.

"Cody, how close are they?" Mickie said pausing so that any stragglers could catch them up.

"I would say we have fifteen minutes." He said looking from person to person until Ted came out of the crowd.

"You have to take Dauntless." Mark said suddenly, but Mickie whirled on him.

"We can't we would be leaving you defenceless."

"No if they think we are still all on the ships they wont even check here, you can out run them and bring her back when the coast is clear, leave her hear Captain and she will be a sitting duck, as will we." Mark finished and Mickie had to agree with him, there was no way against six ships Dauntless wouldn't be sunk, even against one in her present condition she would be at a disadvantage.

"Ok, Randy, Cody take some crew members and take the Dauntless, follow Legacy until we get these bastard's off our trail." Mickie said not wanting to let Randy go again so soon, but there was no time to argue, he was the best qualified to captain her and Cody was the closest to sail her.

"Aye Ma'am." Cody said not waiting any time in running towards Dauntless and up into her hull.

"Mickie I look just be safe ok." Randy said looking down at her and knowing that he could not let her go again without kissing her.

Pulling her forward by placing his hand behind her back Randy pushed his lips to his and kissed her passionately. To his eternal happiness Mickie returned the kiss, placing her hands around his neck and leaning into him while his tongue caressed hers in a timeless rhythm.

"Umm guys impending doom and all that." Ted coughed behind them as they sprang apart now fully aware of the audience they had.

"Right get on with it!" Mickie shouted commanding people left and right until all the crew were aboard one of the ships.

"Mr Rhodes follow Legacy!" Randy ordered as the Dauntless shuddered to life. Cody could feel the engines pull and shake under the pressure of not having a full service after being worn so hard but they pushed the ship forward non the less.

"How much room have we got ensign?" Randy questioned Mike as the ensign scanned the other ships.

"About five minutes but we can stretch that, our top speed is much faster than there's." Mike replied as Mickie's voice came over the radio.

"Randy, Ted say's we can out run them, I say we head for the small cluster of islands we spent the first night in and play hide a seek again, maybe we can give them the slip, if not we can separate them, and then take them down." Mickie spoke while Randy nodded it was s good plan and at the moment their only plan.

"Are all six ships in pursuit?" Randy asked knowing that the whole reason for running was to make sure the rebels stayed safe.

"Yeah sir, they are chasing hard." Cody said noticing that although the ships were not catching up they were not getting left behind either.

"Can we increase speed?" Randy said looking over his shoulder as Mike gave a quick nod.

"Mr Rhodes all head full, lets give us some breathing room." Randy said one eye on his monitor the other on the window in front of him. He had this feeling that something was waiting for them on the other side of that horizon.

"Captain the Dauntless has increased speed, shall I match it?" Chris said from the helm and Mickie stood up and looked over her shoulder at Ted.

"What's he up too, yeah increase speed get in front of him, I don't want the Dauntless exposed if there is some kind of trap." Mickie said walking towards Ted as the lift doors opened to reveal a slightly wobbly looking Beth.

"What are you doing Beth?" Mickie said helping the blonde to Randy's chair once more and Beth sat down breathing out a sigh of relief.

"Just wondering what the hell was going on, but I can see now, those ships out there are L-class battle cruisers, they are fast almost as fast as Legacy and they are armed to the teeth." Beth said giving Mickie a knowing look and Mickie once again turned to Ted.

"How fast are they going?" She enquired now knowing why Randy sped up.

"About 37 knots they are keeping up with us Captain, and if we go any faster we risk pulling the Dauntless apart." Ted said knowing Legacy could go ten knots quicker but Dauntless was not so fortunate.

"If we don't pull away from those ships we wont be able to hide. Randy can you increase speed for five minutes I just want to get enough distance so we can maybe think about an ambush." Mickie said switching on the radio mid flow and getting Randy's reply.

"Yeah we can try Mr Rhodes full power to the engines."

"They are increasing speed, 40 knots 42 45 holding steady. The UAN ships are following at previous speed." Ted said and Mickie went and sat with Beth once more, the woman looked pale but alert.

"You will like this." Mickie said getting the blondes attention as she ordered Chris to engage the turbo engine.

Legacy shot forward and over took the Dauntless, keeping Legacy five hundred or so feet in front of the smaller ship Mickie made sure there was nothing up ahead whilst Randy monitored the ships following them.

Randy was almost smiling with joy as he watched the UAN ships fall further and further behind until they were only a blip on his radar screen.

Just as he was about to ask if they could power down a large jolt then a shudder shook the ship.

"What on earth!" Randy shouted as Cody's hands flew over the controls.

"Engines have gone sir, blown pressure valve it looks like." Cody replied as Kofi called up from the engine room to let Randy know they were on it.

"Damm it! Commander Orton to Legacy, we have stalled might need your assistance Mickie. Mickie?" Randy looked out of the window then listened to the static on the radio.

"Where the hell is Legacy?" Randy turned to the blank faces on his bridge.

"She's just gone sir" Cody replied as he looked out at the clear water in front of them and then to the six ships behind them.

Mickie was just enjoying the look on Beth's face when Legacy pitched to the right throwing both women off balance almost ending up on the floor. Mickie helped Beth up while shouting at her crew.

"What was that, have we been fired upon?"

"No Ma'am, no damage, I'm not sure I wait. That's not, Mickie" Ted babbled as he studied his readouts as Mickie stood up and turned to look at him.

"What is it Ted?" She said her voice low and hesitant.

"I am picking up comm. Traffic, US Navel comm. Traffic." He said as he tuned in to the channels and Mickie could here the chatter.

"John where were we when that jolt hit us?" Mickie said turning to her young ensign who was looking her directly in the eyes.

"North by North west 36 degrees of the Florida peninsular, the Bermuda Triangle Ma'am." He replied as Mickie looked out of the window as Beth spoke up.

"Where is the Dauntless?"

"Gone." Mickie said before anyone else could say anything Mickie walked up to the window and placed her hand upon the cold pane of glass.

"We are home, but they aren't." she spoke quietly to herself as she turned and looked from one face to another until the radio interrupted their silence.

Ok hope you enjoyed, as ever please review and I will update quickly. What have I done now, how am I going to get them out of this one. Am I going to get them out of this one?

I would like to thank all the people who have stuck with this story and continue to encourage me to write it, you are all wonderful and I can't express how much your comments mean to me.

Thank you for reading.


	32. I left my heart with Randy Orton

Hey as promised here is the ever elusive chapter I have been racking my brains about for the past few days I hope it is ok

Oh and Kitsungari means Fox hunt for those that asked.

I Left my heart with Randy Orton

"This is Captain Gabriel of the US vessel Excalibur, please identify yourselves."

Mickie glanced at the ship that was approaching them then turned and rolled her eyes at Ted.

They had no time for this they had to get back and save the Dauntless that was if they could get back at all.

"This is Captain James of the US vessel Legacy, look Captain I know you probably have many questions for me but right now I have to save my other ship from an enemy who is not going to stand around and wait for us to come and join the party." Mickie said indicating to Chris to turn Legacy around.

"Captain James, your ship has been missing for over a month, you were declared MIA and we have been scanning the area for debris. Where the hell have you been, and what other ship?" Replied the frantic voice of the Excalibur's Captain. Mickie paused for a second knowing that she did have to let them know that everyone was so far alright and that she would explain when she wasn't in such a crisis.

"Look your not going to believe me, but we have been on the other side of the Bermuda triangle, we got sucked in the first day of our mission and have been trying to get back since. The other ship is called the Dauntless, it is currently being commanded by my first officer Randy Orton and we were being perused by the ruling force on the other side The United African Nations. If we don't go back through and help them they will loose and be taken prisoner. And believe me Captain it's a fate worse than death." Mickie said looking at Beth who just nodded her head in agreement.

"Bermuda triangle? United African Nations, this is all rather far fetched Captain, I must insist that you return with me to head quarters for questioning." Gabriel replied his voice showing a hit of anger now but Mickie chose to ignore it.

"Ted is there still a hole there, can we get back through?" Mickie asked turning on the spot and folding her arms.

"Yeah but it's shrinking, I am also picking up seven different ships on the other side, all very close together. I would say we have less than ten minutes before that gap is too small to pass back through." He said noticing that the images were faint and he could not tell which one was the Dauntless.

"I am afraid I can't do that Captain, the rest of my crew is still on the other side and there is no way I will leave them behind." Mickie said once more speaking to the other Captain when Beth stood up and took hold of Mickie's shoulder.

"Neither will this crew, they came together they will come home together." Beth said hitting the off switch and giving Ted a wink.

"She is right Mickie, there is no way we are leaving them behind, home or not." Ted said and he smiled at his old friend as she returned the gesture and inclined her head.

"Captain to engine room, we are going back in, I will need weapons on standby and the turbo ready for action." Mickie said as Melina's voice rang out over the comm.

"Thought you would never get round to it, engine room ready Captain." Mickie had to smile the whole crew were willing to never see their homes or families again so they could go and rescue the rest of their crew.

"Mr Jericho take us in." Mickie said sitting back down in her chair next to Beth who gave her arm a pat as the radio crackled again.

"Captain you are disobeying a direct order, and you are stealing property of the US Navy, these are both court martial offences, please Captain do not throw away your career for a fantasy like going through the Bermuda triangle." Gabriel said the tone of his voice suggested that he would be in just as much trouble for not bringing them home as she would be for leaving again, but once they were back on the other side there would be no evidence that they were there at all.

"Sorry Captain, but fantasy I don't think so." Mickie said as Legacy began to pass through the ever shrinking gap.

The ship shuddered with the pressure, it rocked from one side to the other and it felt like it was being dragged back the way they had come as the engines strained and the ship groaned.

"Why is it doing this, it was never like this before?" Mickie said to Ted over her shoulder as Legacy almost came to a complete stop half way through the gap.

"It's the hole it is shrinking so I guessing its pulling water air even mass through the hole, the ship is fighting not to be pushed back though." Ted said as finally Legacy popped forward like a cork coming out of a bottle of champagne.

"Scan the area!" Mickie said when there were no signs of any ships in the ocean in front of them and Beth was getting back to her feet.

"I think we are too late." She said quietly not wanting to say it too loud in case it came true.

"I have them, fifteen miles north west of here, looks like the Dauntless is being towed." Ted said as Mickie sat back down and tapped the radio.

"Melina anything I should know about?" Mickie enquired not knowing what might have happened on that trip back through.

"Nothing Ma'am permission to go full throttle after them." Melina said a smile in her voice and Mickie turned and caught Beth's eye.

"Then by all means Mr Jericho engage turbo drive lets catch them up before they find some more friends."

Legacy dropped low in the water and surged forward, it always made Mickie smile when she felt the power of this ship and she didn't stop herself this time either.

Beth looked over at the brunette sitting next to her and she knew that Mickie was living on the hope that the crew of Dauntless were still alive, Beth hoped so too.

She knew it was far more likely that they had been taken prisoner, it was the UAN's way, they liked to see the suffering on the faces of their enemies, but what Legacy and Dauntless had done to them over the past couple of days, Beth would not be surprised if they had killed the crew on sight.

Her heart gave a small jump at the thought of never seeing Cody again but she pushed it aside as the seven ships started to come into view.

The Dauntless was overwhelmed within minutes, they only had a few missiles left on board and when a torpedo ripped a hole in their Starboard side Randy had no choice but to surrender.

They had no clue where Legacy had gone but they had made a pretty educated guess. Cody had said they were right on top of the Bermuda triangle once more, and that one minute they were there the next gone, like smoke on the wind and Randy's heart fell into his stomach and then the UAN ship's were there and they had no chance.

Now sitting in the small enclosed cell on one of the UAN ships Randy had nothing better to do than stare at the wall and think about the missed opportunity he had just had.

If Dauntless had not broken down, if it had just followed Legacy back to their own world, they could be going home right now, planning their future. Seeing their families and making plans. But no he was stuck here once again in a UAN prison with no obvious way of getting out. Now though they had the extra problem of not knowing their enemy. None of the soldiers had spoken to them, they had been tossed in to these isolation units and left. Randy had no idea where they were going, or who they were being taken to. He had not seen any of his crew since they had been put on board and he was growing tired of the constant worry.

The only things that were keeping him going was the knowledge that Legacy and Mickie were ok, that there was a way to get back through and if an opportunity ever arose for him to get the rest of his crew out he was going to take it.

It was time to start thinking more like a rebel now, he no longer had the luxury of a big powerful ship. He still had his wits and his advanced knowledge in mechanics, not to mention his ever loyal crew and a pilot who could practically sail anything.

There were some obstacles obviously, number one being he was currently locked in a 10x10 cell with no windows and one door which was locked. The next was they were in the middle of the ocean and his ship was no longer sea worthy.

"Nothing major then." He said to himself as the ship rocked once more in the ever growing seas as the wind picked up and Randy could feel a chill in the air that was not there before.

"Feels like a storm's brewing." Randy said once more to himself as he realised that if he continued talking to himself they might think he had gone mad, which might not be a bad thing given the circumstances.

Standing up and feeling more the pitching of the ship Randy tried to ascertain just how bad the weather was getting out there but without a point of reference he could not tell. This was no force 10 though and for that he was grateful.

He was not sure however how quickly he wanted to get to their final destination, on the one hand it would mean he could get out of this cell and try escape, on the other hand he had no idea where they were going and what would happen to them when they got there.

Randy shuddered remembering that table, being pushed down on to it's solid form and the whip connecting with his skin.

No this cell was a luxury compared to that. There was nothing to do but wait now anyway, wait and plan that was.

Cody was sat in a cell that was exactly the same as Randy's, he couldn't believe he had finally gotten up the courage to kiss Beth and then bag she gets swept into his world while he is left in hers. If only he had stayed on Legacy, not gone rushing off like some super hero trying to prove himself to everyone he would still be there now. Cody felt ashamed for the selfish thought though just seconds after he had had it. If it wasn't him stuck there then it would have been someone else, and he wouldn't have wished this on anyone.

Cody began to feel the ship tilt and rock and he realised that he was now shivering inside his tiny cell with the cold that had penetrated its solid walls.

"Storm." Cody said knowing there was no one around to here him but feeling the need to here his voice and knowing that he still had use of it. From what he had heard on the grapevine he was sure his lungs would be getting a good work out if the UAN had their way. Apparently they liked to here their victims scream.

"Damm it where the hell did that storm come from, throttle back to match speed Mr Jericho." Mickie said slamming her hand on the arm rest of her chair as the storm gathered force and it was no longer possible to keep up top speed without risking tearing Legacy apart.

"Do they know we are here Mr Debasie?" Mickie said noticing that the ships they had been perusing seemed in no particular hurry, but had kept up a good speed.

"I'm not sure, without the storm I would have said they had seen us easily, but now it's a fifty fifty chance." Ted replied as Legacy began to rock and pitch in the water.

The sky had grown so dark that it was almost like night had fallen over the ocean and it was punctuated by flashes in the sky.

Beth looked out and couldn't help but admire the beauty that was before her, yes it was dangerous and foreboding, but it was also wonderful and enchanting.

"What size is this storm, they may be forced to stop." Mickie said turning to John Morrison who was checking his readouts.

"Just a six anything that's built half well could sail through this at a slow enough speed." He replied checking his scanners for any indication that the storm was likely to get worse and not finding any evidence for that.

"What about if we sailed through it faster, could Legacy catch up with those ships, get close enough to find out weather the rest of our crew is still alive?" Mickie asked no one in particular but she expected Ted to answer her, not the blonde sitting next to her.

"Yeah we can do it, we can even use the waves for cover, we used to do it all the time, sit in their bow wave, the UAN scanners have a blind spot directly behind them, its because they mount their rear guns behind the bridge deck and they can't scan the full 360 degrees. If we get close enough we should be able to disable them without them even knowing we are there." Beth said some of that old sprit coming back into her eyes and Mickie couldn't help but grin like an idiot at the woman.

"Ok do it, take us in as quickly and as quietly as possible." Mickie said as the engines groaned under the extra pressure of having to push Legacy through the ever growing swell.

"Perez to bridge, sorry Captain but have your antenna stopped picking up all the channels, this ship is going to come apart at the seems. And I mean that literally, all the repairs we made were temporary, they will not hold under these conditions." Melina said her voice full of trepidation as Mickie raised her eyebrow in Beth's direction and the blonde gave her a knowing smirk.

"It's her ship we only work on it." Beth said quietly back hoping the hot headed woman didn't here her but she was not in luck today.

"Hey I heard that Blondie and your right, unless you're volunteering to put her back together that is." Melina continued frustration now clouding her voice.

"Look Lieutenant, I only need this speed for a little while we are just trying to sneak up on the enemy you know take advantage of their weakness." Mickie said and she could here the sigh from her chief engineer even over the din of the storm and the whir of the engines.

"I guess I don't really have a choice, that is if I ever want to see Kofi or the other half of my team back again." Melina said not willing to conceded defeat and choosing to make it seam like it was in her best interests, which it was. Melina wanted the rest of her crew back as much as everyone else, but she did not wan to have to do it at the expense of her own ship.

Kofi was sat at a long table, he had been brought up to the new high commanders chambers under the false impression that he was a prisoner of the rebels. He had not corrected the UAN in their assumption.

This could be a major advantage for him and his crew, for now he would play along and see what he could do to save Commander Orton and the others, with any luck Kofi could get himself back onto the Dauntless in order to fix her up and get Randy and the others out and back on their way.

Before he had time to come up with a plan the door opened and in stepped a tall thin man wearing what looked suspiciously like Sambo's cloak. Kofi decided it must be a high commander thing, but he wouldn't bet on that not being taken right from the dead mans body. That was if Kofi didn't know for sure that Sombo's body and his clothes were probably in a million pieces.

"Welcome friend, I am so glad we were able to rescue you from those rebels, I hope you were not treated too badly, although I can only imagine." The man said sitting down and pouring himself what looked like wine. Kofi declined the mans offer for some himself and he said.

"No they were ok, I don't think they quite knew what to do with me." Kofi said not knowing how far to run with his story.

"I bet, these rebels they have no concept of the hierarchy, no will to work for what you want, it's what keeps them a step below us." The man said raising his glass high before taking gulp.

"I have to thank these ones though, they did a wonderful job of getting rid of Sambo for me, he has always been a thorn in my side, now thanks to these rebels I am now free to rule as I see fit." He said levelling his gaze with Kofi's and Kofi felt like someone was walking over his grave at the pure evil in the mans eyes.

"That's not to say I wont enjoy torturing them for many hours to come, I'm sure I can learn plenty from the rebels from another world."

Beth watched as Legacy slipped ever closer to the UAN ship, it was slow going, Melina had warned them that if they did this too fast they would split open all their repairs and Legacy could do without sinking today.

They were finally in the bow wave of the UAN ship, close enough to be almost towed along with it as the ship cut an unsteady path through the water.

Legacy tracked it scanning the interior for any weaknesses, any way they could disable the ship without immediately crashing into the rapidly slowing ship when Ted spoke up.

"We need to skip out from behind it ten seconds before we fire at it, that will give us enough time to hit the ship them move on to the next one without hitting the ship we will have just taken out. On the down side once we have taken out the first ship the rest are going to know we are there." Ted said looking at Mickie who was still looking at the back of the large grey ship in front of them.

"We take out two if them that's four against one, I like those odds far better than six Mr Debasie." Mickie said knowing that it was the ship towing Dauntless that she wanted, she didn't know how but she knew that Randy was on that ship.

Captain's intuition, years of experience or something more profound, something that was making her heart ache and her eyes fill with moisture every time she thought that he might be being hurt as they sat there and followed one of the ships in relative safety.

"They aren't dead yet Mickie, come on we can do this, we took out Sambo's fleet for god sake." Beth said feeling the sudden hesitancy in Mickie's mood as if she were frightened she was going to be putting her crew in danger for no reason.

"I know if Randy were dead I think I would know." Mickie said a wistful look coming across her face, a look Beth knew well. When her husband had died she knew. She had woken in the middle of the night to a silence that chilled her and a feeling so heavy that she thought she would never be able to get up out of that bed.

No the rest of the crew were still alive, now it was her turn to save them.

There you go hope you enjoyed, I was hoping to find a way to make the implausible plausible not easy when you are writing about things like the Bermuda triangle.

As ever feed back is highly recommended and they do make all this back ache worth while.

Thank for reading. XxX


	33. Better the devil you know

Ok enjoy, nothing else to prattle on about today.

Better the devil you know?

Mickie gave the command to fire, at the same time Chris pulled Legacy out from behind the ship and latched on to the next one. Ted sent the missile and the force of the blast almost knocked Legacy off course.

"Keep her steady Mr Jericho!" Mickie cried as Beth stood up and went for the controls.

"Excuse me." She said and Chris got out of the way quickly for the blonde and went to the opps station out of the way. Mickie chose not to say anything, Chris was obviously happy to get out of that seat and Beth was wiling to take it.

Legacy levelled off quickly as Ted got a lock on the ship now directly in front of them and fired the missile quickly as the rest of the ships slowed down.

"Get us out of this hole Beth." Mickie called to the woman now at the helm and Beth pushed the controls with a speed that she had only seen in Cody before.

Legacy ducked behind one of the turning ships and came up right along side the ship which was towing Dauntless.

"Come about, I want that ship in tacked." Mickie said standing now and looking out of the windows.

Legacy rocked with weapons fire and Beth surged the ship forward causing Mickie to loose her footing slightly and collide with the consol in front of her.

"Damage report!" She shouted pulling herself up from the floor as Beth spun Legacy once more to avoid more fire coming from behind them now.

"Ruptured power relay in engineering we will have to fire the torpedo's manually." Ted said looking for a target but everything was moving about so quickly.

"Get me a target Beth, aim for one ship single it out." Mickie said as she moved towards Beth's chair once more and clung onto the back of it to help keep her steady.

"Ok I have one the ship of the port bow are you ready Ted your only going to get a split second." Beth called out behind her as she stopped Legacy's engines dead and fired up the Starboard engine spinning Legacy directly into the path of the target ship.

"Got it firing torpedo." Ted said as Beth threw Legacy forward once more and in a wide arch away from the main ship when a wave crashed into them and stopped their forward momentum briefly.

"Damm it!" Beth said a second before the missile she had been trying to avoid hit.

Legacy shuddered and slowed, carried by the waves diagonally across the ocean as Beth was powerless to prevent them from drifting further from the Dauntless.

"Shit Mickie!" Beth said getting off her chair and crouching down over the Captain, one hand holding her own sore chest the other checking Mickie's pulse. Ted was by her side in a second and he lifted Mickie up and carried her to the lift.

"I will get her to the medical bay, make sure you get in touch with Melina find out what is wrong with the engines." Ted said as Beth nodded her head and spun and pushed the button for the radio.

"Beth? Where is Mickie" Melina said worried about her Captain knowing Legacy had taken a big hit she knew it must be bad if Beth was contacting her.

"Ted had taken her to the doctor she had a pretty nasty fall, what's going on with the engines?" Beth said trying to understand Melina's worry but her inpatients getting the better of her.

"That last missile got the power converters pretty good, the engines aren't getting any fuel to they have seized, and I am short staffed, it's going to take a while." Melina replied recognising the urgency in the woman's voice and feeling no desire to argue with her right now.

"Ok well we are in the middle of the ocean in a storm is there anything you can give me?" Beth said but already knowing the answer.

"No, rudder control is about it, you can at least point us in the right direction." Melina said as Beth rolled her eyes and glanced at John who was also looking pretty annoyed.

"Ok how long?" Beth asked hoping that the quicker she got off the radio the quicker Melina would be able to get repairs underway.

"An hour, and that's being optimistic." The woman replied and by the tone of her voice Beth knew she was not kidding.

"Ok I will let you get to it." Beth said switching off the radio and sitting back in her chair.

She felt pretty light headed but she was not going to mention that to anyone, she also was very much aware of the fact that she had no idea where those other ships were headed. Feeling pretty useless Beth turned around to watch as Chris had taken over Ted's position at the tactical station and she stood up.

"Would you mind Chris, I am going to see how the Captain is doing, I need to give her the bad news anyway." Beth said offering Chris his seat back with a pat on his shoulder and she stepped into the lift.

"Not again had this woman got some kind of desire to give herself brain damage." Dr Borne said as Ted placed Mickie on the bed and Evan saw that she had a pretty bad concussion. Deciding to keep her sedated for a while, knowing that Mickie was about as likely to stay in that bed when she woke up as fox in a hole he gave her a mild sedation.

"We aren't going anywhere for a while anyway." Ted said as he watched his friend sleep and turned at the noise of the door being opened.

"How is she?" Beth asked quietly coming over to join Ted and Evan by Mickie's bedside.

"She has been better." Ted said with a mock grin but he realised the joke had fallen slightly short of the mark.

"Concussion, I am going to keep her under sedation for a couple of hours." Evan stepped in quickly and both Ted and Beth nodded in agreement.

"Well Melina say's we are not going anywhere for at least an hour, I suspect more, we have pretty heavy damage and to be honest Ted I have no idea where those ships are headed." Beth said pulling Ted away from Mickie's bed so that they could let her sleep in piece.

"Ok I guess it's up to us for a while then to try and keep track of them and get this ship up and running." Ted said as they left the medical ward and headed back for the lift.

"Maybe I should go and help Melina." Beth suggested as Legacy gave a pretty good lurch and the blonde ended up having to clutch onto the wall.

"Yeah the sooner we can stop this rocking the better. I have no desire to see this morning's breakfast again." Ted said helping Beth right herself when he noticed how pale she was.

"Or not, Beth not long ago you had pretty major surgery I don't think you should be on your feet let alone crawling around in ducts and vents." Ted said keeping his hand around Beth's waist as the lift ascended towards the bridge.

"Doesn't matter much if we end up at the bottom of the briney though does it?" Beth said straightening herself so that Ted would stop looking at the as though she was a dying woman.

"No but I don't think anyone else is going to be able to find those UAN ships again and get us close enough to mount a rescue attempt. We need you Beth, preferably breathing." Ted said giving her a squeeze as the lift doors opened and they stepped out together on to the quite bridge.

"Mr Morrison scan the area I want to pick up any trail of those ships and where they were headed." Ted said as he went and sat in Mickie's chair, while Beth sat back in to Randy's and hoped the world would stop spinning eventually.

"Ted why did they leave, they could have finished us off, taken us prisoner and captured Legacy, but they left?" Beth asked suddenly and Ted realised that he had no idea.

Randy was flung from side to side as the ship was obviously making evasive manoeuvres. He heard what he could only describe as explosions yet his ship seemed to keep on sailing.

Randy hoped it was Legacy although it seemed unlikely seen as they were back in his own world, but something was telling him that Mickie was close by, that this was Legacy and she had not given up on him. Going to the door and trying to peer out of the tiny spy hole Randy could see nothing but more wall.

"Cody can you here me!" Randy shouted knowing that Cody was down here with him somewhere as they had been led here together.

"Yeah Commander your pretty faint though." Cody shouted back, Randy had to strain to here him but he could non the less here is pilot.

"Do you think that is Legacy?" Randy called back and he waited for the gun fire to slow down before he could here the reply.

"Without a doubt sir, that's the Captain alright." Cody shouted back and Randy had to smile.

It was short lived however, the firing ended abruptly and the ship they were on was still skimming through the ocean on it's way to god knows where. Randy sat back against the wall and placed his head in his hands. Even the storm seemed to be easing off as now the ship seemed calmer and Randy didn't know what to think.

"God I hope Legacy is ok" He heard Cody shout and randy had to agree with the younger man, he had been thinking exactly the same thing.

"I bet she is, Mickie has probably just hit and run you know, with the odds and all that, she will be back soon for another strike." Randy replied thinking that his theory was sound and that Mickie was trying to thin out the numbers before launching her final rescue mission.

He was wrong after what felt like hours of sitting in the almost silence of the ship with only Cody's occasional shouts of support and theory Randy knew that Legacy was not coming for them, the darkness was however.

At some point night had descended upon them and Randy had been left staring into the blackness of his cell.

The ship seemed to roll on though, it seemed like they were going to the end of the earth when the engines seemed to slow and the contestant grind that had sent into his teeth stopped as the ship seemed to drift for a moment before coming to a stop.

"Well wherever we are it seems like we are here." Randy shouted but he only got a muffled grunt reply from Cody as he heard the sounds of a cell door being opened as Cody was dragged out.

"Let him go, it's me you want!" Randy called feeling the need to protect his crew even though he could do nothing. That feeling of helplessness came over him again and suddenly he was back clutching Mickie's frozen body next to his after Sambo had tortured her.

Randy pounded his fists on the door until it was opened and he was hit with a sudden burst of electrical current and a hood was forced over his head.

Randy could do nothing but be dragged along. The blast he had got from what looked like a cattle prod had made his entire body tingle and he felt like he couldn't move.

He could see nothing and all he had to go on was what he could here, there were plenty of sounds, birds, wind trees rustling, if he didn't know any better he would say he was on another Island.

"Let's have a look at them." A hard voice came from behind Randy as the hood was pulled off his head and a bright light shone in his face. He was being held up on his knees by his captors and was next to Cody. Randy was starting to feel his body come back to life and he chanced a look at the Lieutenant and he wished he hadn't.

Cody's face was almost black with a bruise that encompassed his entire eye, Cody had obviously managed to put up more of a fight than Randy had when they came for him and paid the price.

"Good, now their friends will be coming for them, I want them to see what happens to rebels that cross me, I want them to find their rotting corpses right here on this beach." Randy's heart dropped like a stone into the pit of his stomach as a gasp from Cody filled the silence followed by a harsh laugh from the new man now standing over them as they knelt in the soft dry sand of this far away Island.

"Scared gentlemen, I would be, there are good ways and bad ways to die, if I had the choice I would not be choosing to die like you two are about to. However I will be keeping the rest of your crew, they will be repairing your impressive ship and proving me with much needed manual labour."

Randy eyed the new man, he seemed less worried about blustering that Sambo, but he still had the same elephantine ego and Randy wondered if he could offer him something in exchange for his and Cody's life.

"We could be useful to you to, Legacy is a powerful ship and I know how she runs better than any of the others." Randy said hinting to the new high commander that he would be more useful alive than dead.

The dark man came closer to randy and got right down into his face, breathing his hot putrid breath right into Randy ear he whispered.

"Nice try Commander but high commander Masamba will not be as easily manipulated as the last high commander." Turning abruptly Masamba raised his hand high in a gesture which seemed far to grand for the occasion swept back round to face Randy and Cody.

"Hoist them up!" Randy didn't realise there was a rope around his waist and neck as the rope pulled taught and his was hoisted up until his feet left the ground and he could see Cody out of the corner of his eye dangling in the same position.

"Hope you enjoy your stay boys, the night life here is very friendly I'm sure they would love to invite your for dinner." Masamba laughed out loud as he and his men carried the lights away and climbed back aboard there our boat and Randy could here an ominous rustle coming from the darkness as he suppressed the urge to scream.

Mickie awoke in the infirmary with a jump, Legacy seemed to be moving again but there was something, something else that had awoken her so abruptly. Getting out of the bed and ignoring the doctors shouts Mickie climbed into the lift and road to the bridge unable to shake the feeling that had settled into the pit of her stomach.

Getting out on to the bridge Mickie briefly noticed that it was night and she wondered just how long she had been out.

"Mickie are you ok?" Beth said from the helm as Mickie rounded on the blonde and folded her arms.

"Your idea knocking me out in the medical bay?" she said with raised eyebrow and Beth quickly shook her head and pointed in Ted's direction.

Mickie turned on her friend to find him innocently looking at his console and whistling some unknown tune.

"I should have known, status Mr Debasie." She barked at him making him slightly jump which he attempted to cover up but Mickie caught it just the same.

"Legacy is travelling at 30 knots in pursuit of the final three UAN ships. We have a long range scanner lock and it appears they have stopped off at an Island thirty minutes away but are now back on previous heading." Ted stated in his perfect officers voice.

"Island, why would they stop at an Island?" Mickie said walking towards the window as though she was trying to see the answer reflected in the shimmer coming from the ocean.

"Don't know but I bet it's not to take photo's of the local wildlife." Beth said from the helm as Mickie turned round and smiled at the woman who was looking directly at her when her face turned into a picture of shock.

"They dropped someone off, on that Island, and I bet it wasn't a UAN solider." Beth said and Mickie soon caught on to her line of thought.

"Can we increase speed?" She turned and looked at Ted who was shaking his head but there was no way Mickie was going to wait a second longer to get to that Island than she had to.

"Captain to engine room, give me all you have Melina, I think, no I am sure the rest of our crew needs us, and needs us now." Mickie said clutching onto the back of Beth's chair as the blonde patted her hand affectionately as her screens showed she could increase speed to 40 knots.

"That's all I can give you Captain or we will shake ourselves in to tiny pieces." Melina said as Legacy moved forward with a groan and Mickie cringed at the noise.

She hoped she was not putting her crew in danger for nothing, but something was telling her Randy was in danger serious danger and she was running out of time to save him.

Oh what have I done this time, this story just wont seem to die, I keep trying to end it yet another idea keeps popping up. If you would like me to quit putting my characters though this misery and just end this epic then let me know as I now have something resembling a conclusion in my head.

If not I will carry on plugging away until there is nothing else to do to my poor hapless crew.

Thanks for reading as ever reviews are a welcome and celebrated event for me, so hit that button.


	34. In this darkness something will rise

Back again hope you like this next instalment.

Out of the darkness something will rise

"Take Legacy in Beth." Mickie said as they approached the Island, the inlet was far too small for Legacy though and Mickie soon realised they would have to use the life boat Beth and Randy had stolen from Sambo.

"Look I will be quick, there might not be anything there but I can't just go passed without checking, they stopped here for a reason." Mickie explained to Ted at his protests of her going to the Island herself.

"I know Mickie, but me and John can go there is no need to go yourself." Ted said as Beth stood up and came up beside the two arguing officers.

"I will go with Mickie, I will make sure we are in and out of there as quickly as possible." Beth said giving ted a look that said he wasn't going to win this one and the blonde backed down.

"Fine but keep in radio contact for my sake." Ted said giving his wilful Captain a glance and receiving a smirk.

"As always Mr Debasie." Mickie replied as she and Beth went to the lift and down to the docking bay.

The life boat launched and Beth and Mickie could not believe how dark it was out there, the storm had pretty much gone but clouds still covered much of the sky and any light from the moon was being blocked out. Beth turned on the lamp at the front of the boat but it gave little light but it was just enough to steer by.

"Do you here that?" Mickie said suddenly turning her head and looking back at Legacy drifting in the water not half a mile away from them.

"Oh no!" Beth said as she pointed towards a ship appearing from behind the out cropping rocks.

"It's the UAN they must have been waiting for us this was a trap." Mickie said as Beth started to swing the life boat around.

"No we can't go back we are no match for them." Mickie said her hand over the top of Beth's to keep the boat still as Legacy's engines fired up.

"They might get away they can come back for us later." Mickie said as the life boast bobbed in the water.

"Umm Mickie what was that?" Beth said as a flash of light came from the UAN boat and push towards them under the water.

"Shit jump!" Mickie said as she and Beth launched themselves into the water and swam towards the shore as fast as they could.

"Commander the UAN, they were waiting for us!" John shouted as the ship appeared on his radar screen and Ted ordered the engines fired up.

"What about the Captain?" Chris shouted but Ted had no chance to answer as weapons fire hit Legacy and several pipes burst on the bridge, filing the room with steam and making it hard for the crew to see.

"Patch that up, get us out of here Mr Jericho!" Ted shouted going back to his station to see if he could get a target lock on the UAN ship but found that he had lost the ability to fire the missiles.

"Melina what's going on down there I have no weapons." Ted called on the radio as another blast hit the ship and all he got in reply was static.

"That took out the comm.'s sir, she can't here you." John said holding his arm as he tried to get information on what exactly was being damaged when another explosion hit and Chris was thrown backwards as the helm exploded in his face.

"Shit Chris, someone go and get the Doc." Ted said coming over to the helms man and seeing that he had pretty bad burns to his face and hands.

Ted wasn't sure who went but he knew Legacy was done for, they had no weapons, no way to contact the rest of the ship and by the sounds of it that UAN ship was docking. Ted rushed to his consol and was met with a blank screen, punching the useless computer with his fist he shook his hand as the pain reminding him that he was still alive and could fight.

The lights went out then, just for a moment as they flickered under the damaged the ship had sustained and Ted was momentarily blinded.

When the lights came back he was surrounded by UAN soldiers and he hung his head knowing that this was finally it. Mickie was gone, he had lost Legacy and now he was going to be placed in a prison and probably tortured for information. And to top it all he couldn't even set the computer virus so these vultures couldn't steel their technology.

"Ted Debasie you are a liability." He said to himself as one of the soldiers punched him in the mouth to shut him up.

Ted fell against the edge of his consol and the hard metal connected with his ribs, feeling something crunch Ted chose to stay on the floor for now trying hard to gasp breath as he was then forcibly pulled to his feet and he was turned to face a tall thin man who was wearing a cloak.

"Hello Commander I am sorry but I am going to have to relieve you of your command. It seems like your Captain and first officer are a bit tied up at the moment, but I wouldn't worry they wont be for long." The man said with an evil smile on his face as a shiver ran though Ted right down in to his toes.

Mickie and Beth emerged in the shallow waters of the beach spluttering and gasping for air. They had managed to get clear just in time as the missile hit their tiny boat.

Now both women turned around in the waist high water and watched as the UAN ship docked with Legacy.

"Oh no" Mickie said as she shivered uncontrollably at the icy waters tricking off her skin as Beth waded over and pulled her towards the beach.

"Come on Mickie we need to get out of this water before we catch hypothermia." Mickie allowed Beth to walk her towards the beach as the UAN ship towed Legacy away just like they had done with the dauntless and all Mickie and Beth could do was watch.

"How did it come to this?" Mickie said as she placed her head in her hands as Beth's arms wrapped around her and she held on to the blonde like her life depended on it.

"I don't know, but maybe they will find a way out of this, you have done it before, we can't give up now." Beth said pulling Mickie's dripping wet hair away from her face and Mickie looked up and took in a deep breath.

"God this place is quite." Mickie said as she and Beth made their way further up the beach and towards the tree line, which just seemed like an inky black abyss.

"I know it's almost creepy." Beth replied as a rustle could be heard amongst the tress but it was impossible to tell what it was.

"I wonder why they chose this Island?" Mickie said and then she heard the distinct sound of her name being called.

"Mickie, hey over here!"

"Randy?"

"Yeah, me and Cody are tied up in a tree!" Randy's voice was close, but it was so dark neither woman could ascertain exactly where it was coming from.

"Keep talking Randy, we will find you." Beth called as she and Mickie moved off to the right.

"Hey Beth, yeah you sound like you are getting closer." Randy said as Mickie shifted up the beach somewhat and suddenly she could make out their dim shapes dangling from a tree branch.

"God Randy, Cody are you guys ok?" Mickie said as she and Beth raced to them and Mickie pulled out her pocket knife from her sock.

"So far, but I am telling you something is in that forest and I don't want to find out what it is." Randy said as he dropped the short distance to the ground and rubbed his sore neck.

Mickie handed the knife to Beth so she could release Cody as she threw her arms around Randy's neck and placed her lips over his.

Beth smiled slightly at the scene as she cut Cody down and he stood up straight next to her.

"God are we gland to see you." He said giving her a smile so wide Beth could even see his teeth in the darkness.

"I don't know how she knew but Mickie was sure someone had been left on this Island." Beth said feeling like Cody was staring at her a little bit to intently but choosing to ignore it as Randy and Mickie separated and came to stand next to them.

"So where is the boat." Randy asked and Mickie realised that from way back here they could not have seen what had happened.

"Umm the UAN blew it up." Beth said as she shifted nervously from foot to foot until Cody placed his hand around her wait and stilled her. Her shifting was making him nervous and she was obviously wet and cold.

Beth gave him a small smile but she was grateful for the warmth of his body and she lea into him slightly.

"Legacy?" Randy asked but already knowing the answer.

"They have her along with the rest of the crew, they were waiting for us, hiding behind the Island like we do, someone must have told them that little trick." Mickie said slight anger tinting her voice as Randy placed his hand on her shoulder.

"If Masamba is anything like Sambo in his torture techniques and I think he could even be worse I wouldn't have blamed them." Randy said catching Mickie's eyes and Mickie gave a small nod of her head.

A cool breeze blew across the Island and all four people stood on the beach suddenly became aware of a constant hissing noise.

"What is that?" Mickie asked as they spun around to peer into the forest but they could see nothing only here the hiss.

"We don't know but it started the moment Masamba left, it's eerie isn't it." Randy replied as the hissing seemed to grow louder.

Cody felt Beth tense next to him, her body became stiff and ridged and her could feel her pulse race as he held on to her tighter.

"I know what that is, and I know why Masamba chose this Island." Beth said a slight panic in her voice but Cody could tell she was fighting to control it for their sakes.

"What, tell us Beth." Mickie said taking hold of the Blonde's shaking hands and holding them close.

"They was this plague on Africa centuries ago, there was a creature called a Scarab."

"A dung beetle?" Cody chimed in and Beth shook her head at him emphatically.

"No not dung not in this world, the Scarab beetle eats flesh, it has a poisonous bite which paralyzes it's victims, one bite would take a fully grown male down in less than two minutes, once you are incapacitated they eat you alive." Beth said as she watched all the eyes grow wide behind her as the hissing became almost a din as whatever it was in those trees was getting very close.

"Are you sure, how did they get rid of them?" Mickie said darting her eyes about for somewhere to run but there was nothing but ocean behind them and that hissing in front.

"They were introduced to a virus which spread amongst the beetle's the only one's that survived were ones on Islands like this, they are entirely nocturnal, the light it hurts them somehow, makes them week, it is unlikely anything but passing birds live on this Island, they would have eaten everything else." Beth said backing up towards the water followed by everyone else as the hissing seemed to be ringing in their ears now.

"Can they swim?" Randy asked as he could now here the lapping of the waves and checked behind him to see they were mere feet from the waters edge.

"Not that I know of, but we wouldn't last more than fifteen minutes in there." Beth said stopping abruptly and looking around the group.

"Do you think they know we are here?" Cody asked as Beth clutched onto his hand as they stood and listened to the hiss which had grown softer increase in volume once more.

"I would say that was a fair bet Cody." Randy replied as the waves touched his feet and sent him a reminder that he really had no where else to run.

Kofi watched as the Legacy crew were settled into their cells, the high commander had been very pleased with the information he had managed to torture out of the crew from Dauntless and had decided to spare their lives.

Kofi gave Melina a small wink as she walked into the cell and the brunette acknowledged his single.

Kofi had been given his own quarters and he was assigned to get Legacy up and running again. The computer systems had gone down in the battle and Masamba wanted them back up as soon as possible. Kofi had managed to get some of his engineers assigned to help him but they were under constant guard.

He knew if he was going to sabotage the high commander's ship and get Legacy away he would only get one shot. Working around his crew he managed to relay several coded messages to them about just how they were going to do this and he received information back about the Captain. Not only would he have to do this precisely but also quickly, from what Masamba had told him about what was on that Island their four stranded crew members did not have much time in fact Kofi was wondering if he was already too late as he welded yet another power coupling together and made his way back on to the Obelisk and down in to her engine room.

Telling the soldiers that he had to collect some tools and not given a second look Kofi placed the small charge on to the main power conduits to the engines of the ship and made sure they would not be found by closing the hatch and welding the corners closed.

Returning to Masamba's private room Kofu knelt down respectively at the man's feet and told him that they would be ready to activate Legacy's systems within the hour.

Kofi felt sick having to act like this but for now the young man had no choice if he ever wanted to get his ship and crew back again.

Beth saw no other option, they were going to have to swim for it, the back mass came out of the trees cautiously at first she could see them hesitate. Like was like a wave of darkness as they scurried across the ground inching ever closer to where the four people stood huddled on the beach.

"We are going to have to get in the water." She said as they had all unconsciously backed up almost to their knees anyway.

"Ok maybe we could swim to another part of the Island get away for now." Mickie said as she felt the cold water lap at her backside as Randy held on tighter to her hand.

"They are coming." He said as the mass seemed to sense their prey was getting away and suddenly started to move forward at and alarming rate.

Beth dived in first followed by Cody, Mickie and with a final look behind him at the line of black beetles on the shore Randy took the plunge and felt the icy fingers enclose over his body.

The shivering started almost immediately and he knew Beth had been right, there was no way they could last for long in the ocean and as he came up to the surface next to Mickie he started to look for a place they could get back on to the Island far enough away from those creatures to at least dry out.

It was Cody who spotted the out cropping beach and they swam over to it dripping wet and freezing cold. Looking at one another and listening for the ominous sound of hissing and hearing none they all seemed to breath out a collective sigh of relief.

"They will be back, it's only a matter of time before they come for us, especially now they know we are here." Beth said squeezing the excess water out from her hair and looking around in the almost total darkness at the rest of their concerned faces.

"Can they climb?" Randy asked eyeing a large tree and looking up into it's branches.

"Yeah as far as I know, and dig, the only way to stop them is to use light." Beth replied as she wrapped her arms around her to try and fight off the cold.

"Where are we going to get that kind of light source from?" Randy said looking around the barren beach and then back at Mickie.

"We could try a fire?" She suggested but she already knew it would not be strong enough.

"Look for now we would be better off in a tree, easier to defend and less life threatening than the water I suggest we pick a good one and wait it out for as long as possible." Beth said turning towards the forest when something caught her eyes.

Moving closer and peering into the darkness she felt Mickie come up alongside her.

"Do you see that?" Beth asked hoping it wasn't just her starting to imagine things.

"Nope I see it too, what do you think it is?" Mickie said as Randy and Cody came up on the ridge and looked at what the girls had seen.

"Natural protection, for every predator there is a defence and that is what that tree has done." Randy said with a smile on his face as they all started walking towards the green glowing tree.

Rounding on it they saw that it was in fact pretty bight under the trees canopy, there were several birds perched in it's branches and what looked like squirrels nesting on it's trunks.

"How many tress like this do you think this Island has?" Mickie asked Beth as they pulled themselves up on to its lower branches as they sent several birds into flight.

"Who knows it is a massive Island, maybe loads maybe hardly any, but I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth." Beth said as Cody pulled her up into a higher branch and she settled in next to him as Mickie and Randy took the branch next door.

"We can stay here until morning, then I suggest we scout the Island while it is safe, see if we can find food and water and perhaps more of these trees. Who knows how long Legacy we be before she comes back for us. We need to make sure we are still alive when she does." Mickie said settling back against Randy's chest and letting their combined body heat warm them.

No one corrected Mickie on her assumption that Legacy was coming back for them, they needed that hope if they were going to survive on this Island. If they had no hope of rescue they might as well let the darkness consume them.

Well now it's getting interesting, hope you guys enjoyed that one, hey at least Mickie and Randy are back together, granted marooned on a lethal Island but together non the less.

Please review I love to here your views and I will update as soon as I can.


	35. The enemy within

Well here is an update for you, I would like to dedicate this chapter to: sophia0401

Cena's baby doll

Vixxy vampire

xxFuturewwedivaxx

for their continued support for this strange but oh so compelling story I hope this chapter is worth it.

The enemy within

Mickie lent on Randy chest willing the cold to leave her body, but she just couldn't stop shaking, her wet clothes clung to her body seeping the heat from her skin and making her teeth clash together uncontrollably.

"Are you ok?" Randy whispered in her ear and Mickie just nodded her head, there was nothing to be gained from complaining and she didn't want Randy worrying about her more than he already did.

"Just a bit cold I'm sure it will pass." Mickie said tuning her head so she could look him in the eyes and let him know that she meant it.

"I know, at least that damm hissing has gone, we can be grateful for small mercy's I guess." Randy replied as he rubbed her arms in a effort to install some heat into her much smaller body as he felt her shake next to him.

"I wouldn't bank on it staying that way." Beth said from her perch with Cody as they huddled together under the glow of this strange tree and Randy could see them easily. Beth was sitting in Cody's lap and Randy thought that it was a much better idea than Mickie just lent against him.

Reaching forward and not giving his stoic Captain a chance to protest Randy pulled Mickie into his lap and wrapped his arms completely around her. To his surprise she said nothing but breath out a long slow breath.

"You think they will come for us even here?" Mickie asked Beth as the blonde opened her eyes once more and turned to look at Mickie.

"I would say so, they may not get to close to the tree, but it wont stop them from trying to wait us out." Beth replied as randy was once again a wear of that low hissing noise, it was faint so fait he was not sure if he had imagined it until he felt Mickie stiffen in his arms.

"You here it too a." He asked her and he felt her nod against his neck as she placed her head on his shoulder.

Beth allowed Cody to hold her tightly, she was too cold to care about the fact she had only know him a short while effect the fact that she wanted to survive the night.

Mickie and Randy seemed pretty at ease with each other now and that made Beth smile, they both needed each other more than ever now and without Legacy Mickie would be like a little girl lost if the rest of them didn't pull together just like a crew, but this time without the ship.

Closing her eyes again as exhaustion overtook her once more Beth was very much aware of the growing hiss coming from the depths of the trees. Allowing her fingers to caress the arm that was holding her she felt Cody's lips smile against her hair, but the smile faltered as he to heard the hissing.

"They can't get us up here, that's why the animals are here, all we have to do is wait until morning." Cody whispered in to Beth's ear as he rubbed her freezing arms, the girls had been in the water twice now and Beth was soaked to the skin, not to mention she had recently had major surgery and he could tell she was very tired. Almost to the point of passing out, when her fingers began to trace a path across his arm at first he was happy that she was touching him in such an intimate way, that was until he realised it was because she was anxious because the hissing sound had returned. After he spoke no one else made a noise as they all listened intently towards the trees and preying for the sun to return.

Ted was cold tired and in a lot of pain, not only had he been beaten but he had been left to hang by his wrists in his cell. His left eye was almost swollen shut and his knees felt like they were on fire, not to mention the probable broken rib he had got when Masamba first arrived on board Legacy.

He squinted even more when the door to his cell was opened and a shaft of light momentarily fell across his face, as soon as it was there however it was gone again.

"Commander, commander?" Ted heard his rank being whispered and he had to smile even though it hurt.

"Kofi is that you?" Ted asked into the darkness as a hand came down on his shoulder which made him jump.

"Yeah Commander it me, look I can get you out of these chains and leave the door unlocked, I have already done the same for Lt Perez and some of the other crewman." Kofi said as Ted felt the chains loosen then fall off. Ted almost collapsed to the floor but Kofi caught him.

"Thanks." Ted said finding his own feet with a bit of a effort and he looked at Kofi in the dim light and found his eyes.

"I need you to wait here though, I am fixing up Legacy and we can't go until she is sailable again, that and I need to blow up this ship and I'm not ready yet." Kofi said with a small smile as Ted allowed himself to lean against the wall and take a deep shaky breath.

"Yep defiantly broken." Ted said hissing as his ribs protested under the expansion of his lungs and Kofi placed his hand back on Ted's shoulder.

"As soon as we are out of here sir I'm sure Evan will be more than happy to have you on bed rest in the medical bay." Kofi said and smiled at the grimace on his commanding officers face.

"This is not looking so bad now." Ted said with a small wave of his arm as Kofi went back towards the door.

"I will let you know when I am ready, there will be a pretty big bag, that's when you should run." He said as he crept back out of the door and Ted shook his head and slipped down the wall until he was sat down and stretched his legs out in front of himself.

"Run I think that is being a bit optimistic." He said into the silence of his cell.

Kofi set the final charge inside the Obelisk, closing the hatch he stood up and walked out of the corridor, checking around he saw no one, he had managed to unlock almost everyone of the Legacy crew, that included all those that were on Dauntless, they all seemed pretty beet up but none of them were unable to run if they had to.

Ted had been the worst by far and Kofi had found it hard to leave his commanding officer but he knew he had to retuned before the night staff passed by again.

Walking the full length of the ship Kofi then walked on to the gangway that connected Legacy to the Obelisk and he ducked under a low hanging cable as he went onto his old ship.

He was having a problem setting the charges to blow the connecting bridge that was attaching Legacy and the Obelisk together, ever time he tried to set the charge someone would come up and walk across. There was only so many times he could do this without people getting suspicious. Walking straight across this time Kofi went down to the engine room, it was deserted and he placed his tools on one of the stairways and opened up the turbo drive window. Only he and Melina had any idea how this worked let alone being able to fix it and it was something Masamba was very interested in acquiring. Kofi just wanted to fix it so that when he blew Masamba's ship they could get the hell out of there.

Pulling at the wires and checking the power output Kofi finally found the defective cable and started the task of replacing it.

Mickie awoke to the sound of Beth screaming and Cody stomping about on their branch shaking the tree to the point where Mickie had to hold on to the trunk in fear of getting shaken off.

"Damm it Cody just kill it already." Beth said as her own foot came down and squashed the beetle on the branch as it made a ugly mess on the place Beth had recently occupied.

Beth had been awoken by a tickling sensation on her leg, thinking Cody was trying to get fresh she hit out at him but found her hand colliding with something hard and hissing in protest.

That's when she had awoken the entire Island with her scream and Cody had been jumping around like a baboon trying to kill the lethal creature.

"My hero." Beth said with a twitch of her mouth as she tried not to smile at Cody's forlorn face.

"My god that could have killed you." Randy said looking at the mess the creature had left as he did though he spotted another one. It was making it's way up the trunk of the tree. It was moving very slowly though and a couple of times it almost fell off.

"It's the light it's making them sick, but we must be a big enough prize they are willing to risk it." Beth said as she stepped back as Cody smushed this one with ease as it staggered on to their branch.

"God I hope the sun comes up soon, I do not want to spend all night stamping on these things." Randy said as he looked down at the almost black carpet below them.

Most of the beetles were keeping out of the reach of the trees glow but a few were venturing under. Even less were trying to climb the tree, but they all knew that one would be enough, get bitten and you would fall out of the tree and to certain death.

"Look right now I don't see us having a choice, but I suggest in the morning we find something that is going to prevent them climbing the tree." Mickie said sitting back on the branch. She had very little sleep and her legs were finally starting to protest on being used so much. She looked over at Randy as he placed his arm around her shoulders and sat down beside her.

Mickie had to admit she was much warmer than she had been as her clothes had finally dried out and her teeth had stopped chattering. She looked over at the sky which was turning from a dark black to a inky blue as the first signs of dawn approached them.

Her eyes were on the verge of closing and her body was slumping towards the branch when Randy got up suddenly and wacked away a bug that had landed right on Mickie shoulder.

"For crying out loud! Where the hell is the bug spray when you need it." Mickie shouted as she was now fully awake once more and she scowled down at the next bug trying to get the meal of a lifetime and she raised her boot.

"Oh no this one is mine." Mickie said as Randy tried to back her away from the bug but was pushed away by Mickie who was looking like if he got in the way she would take him out to.

Raising his palms Randy backed away and watched as Mickie stomped on the beetle with a satisfying crunch and she flicked away the remains with her shoe.

"I don't know about you but I'm not so sleepy any more." Randy said turning and grinning at Cody and Beth who both nodded in agreement as Mickie squatted down beside him looking at their tree companions.

"Looks like its going to be dawn soon anyway, for mow I guess we just keep killing these things until they go away." Mickie said wiping the guts off of her shoes that had stuck there and Beth pulled a face as Mickie flicked them towards her.

"We leave at first light, I suggest you rest as much as possible." Mickie said leaning back against the tree but not closing her eyes, she had had enough of this Island, the UAN hell the whole damm world and she had chosen to come back here this time, 'What in the hell was I thinking?' she thought to herself as she felt Randy settle back in next to her and pull her closer to him and she realised exactly what she was thinking as she relaxed in to his welcome arms.

The next time Mickie opened her eyes she could see everything around her, dawn had broken and their would be dinner guest had left them alone.

"Wake up Randy it's time to go." Mickie said placing a kiss on his forehead and he woke placing his arms around her and landing his lips on hers for a soft kiss.

"Later." She whispered as Cody and Beth began to stir having also fallen back asleep despite the dangers, the exhaustion had gotten them all in the end.

"Come on sleepy heads it's time to go." Mickie said and Cody was on his feet in an instant ever the good officer willing to do whatever the Captain asked. Beth was slower to react, stretching and yawning before climbing shakily to her feet.

"That was not the most comfortable night I have spent, but it was the least either." Beth said a small smile on her face but Cody knew she probably wasn't really joking.

They all climbed out of the tree and the area was clear of bugs, well alive ones anyway. Several bodies lay strewn about but only the exoskeletons. All the flesh and insides were missing.

"They ate each other?" Mickie said when she took a real look around and her face scrunched up at the thought but no one bothered answering her, it was to freaky especially if they had to go through another night on this Island.

"Ok food, water and something to use as a barrier, we can't go through another night like the last one." Mickie said looking for objections and getting none.

"Water first if we can I am so thirsty." Beth said as the blonde headed down hill towards where the most likely water source would be.

"Agreed, oh and keep your eyes peeled for any more trees like the one from last night you never know when we might need one." Mickie said as she followed Beth in to the undergrowth. Randy behind her and Cody bringing up the rear. Ploughing through the surprisingly think forest the distinct sound of rushing water could be heard until all four emerged in to a clearing where a lake had formed at the base of a small yet impressive waterfall.

"Oh god that's beautiful." Beth said as she walked along the soft grassy shore line and dipped her hand in the water. Cupping it to her mouth she drank thirstly. The others did not take long to join her as she looked across at Mickie who gave her a small smile as the brunette stood up and looked around.

This place was beautiful, the trees and the spray from the waterfall made the area cooler than the hot and sticky forest, the grass was soft from the moisture and lack of trees causing it to die from lack of sunlight. If it wasn't for the fact that she knew lurking in the dark somewhere was a creature that was just waiting for the sun to go down so they could have her for their entrée.

"Ok that's water lets think about some food a guys." Mickie said turning back towards the forest and taking note of it's location not that you couldn't here the impressive water fall from half a mile away.

Randy brought up the rear this time, he pushed the leaves away from his now sweaty face, the sun was well and truly out now and the island was heating up fairly considerably and it was obvious that it was only going to get hotter.

Keeping his eyes out for anything that they were going to be able to eat randy finally spotted a bush which contained something that looked like black berries.

Calling the rest of their group over he cautiously put one in his mouth and started slowly chewing.

"Umm not bad." He said as he picked up a few more and shovelled them into his mouth.

"Ok save some for the rest of us." Mickie said taking Randy's hint and picking some berries for herself as Beth and Cody did the same.

Looking around Randy saw that all three of his companions had berry juice around their mouths and he smiled, he knew he probably looked the same but at this point he didn't care.

The fruit had been good but there was no way enough for them all to have a good meal on and soon they had to move on hoping to find something more substantial.

Beth looked out towards the ocean, she was looking west, she knew this because of the path the sun had been travelling in is ever approaching descent and Beth had been keeping a pretty close eye on that. It was also the direction they had last seen Legacy heading in but now the water shone bright and clear, and most importantly empty.

Following Cody down a narrow path of rocks Beth noticed that randy had fallen somewhat behind them all and she called up to him.

"Come on Randy you don't want to get left all by yourself do you?" She called and she saw him turn around and realised that they had left without him.

Randy had been distracted by a plant that looked edible but was pretty rotten when he had got a closer look. Beth's shout alerted him to the fact he was loosing them and he skipped down the narrow crag and landed next to Mickie in the middle of what looked like a old dried up creak.

"Follow it?" She suggested and as no one had any other better suggestions they all headed down the creak and further into the forest.

Kofi was just finishing the wiring when a hand was placed on his shoulder, he turned quickly to see Masamba's grinning face and Kofi forced a smile as the high commander removed his hand from Kofi's shoulder and tucked it back under his robe.

"I here you are finished Kofi, will I be able to sail this ship now and destroy all my enemies?"

"Yes high commander she is all yours." Kofi said with a bow of his head as he looked in to Masamba's eyes he saw a flicker of anger there and Kofi frowned.

"What is wrong sir I thought you would be pleased at the completion of this ship." Kofi refrained from saying his ship, Legacy would never be Masamba's ship, she only belonged to Captain James.

"I would be Kofi, maybe I will have to change her name, that is once I am rid of you."

Kofi took a step back as Masamba's eyes flashed at him.

"Me sir I have done nothing but fix the ship like you asked." Kofi said but he knew the game was up, the only chance for him now was escape but he could see no way out of this one.

"What do you think of the name Victory? I kind of like it, makes me think of a winner." Masamba said as he pulled aside his robe and pulled out the long dagger concealed within.

Kofi did not get a chance to answer the high commanders question as the blade came towards him until he knew no more.

Masamba stood over Kofi's body and looked down at the man with distaste.

"I have always hated traitors." He said as he left Legacy's engine room and climbed the stairs. Before he could reach the adjoin gangway however there was an explosion from his own ship and Masamba had to hold on to the hand railings to steady himself.

"Lying bastard." Masamba screamed as Ted Debasie emerged from below decks along with half the Legacy crew.

"What shall we do with him sir." John Morrison asked as they found Masamba clinging to the gang rails trying to keep himself upright.

"Take him with us we don't have any more time." Ted shouted as John and Mike forced Masamba to his feet and back on to Legacy.

"Where id Kofi?" Ted shouted as Melina shut the hatch and blew the gang way behind her so Legacy was cut free.

"He is in the engine room, I am afraid I had to kill him." Masamba said as John clicked on the handcuffs and pulled him down towards the brig.

Ted and Melina went to the engine room and found Kofi's lifeless body, Melina allowed the tears to come and Ted placed his arm around her shoulders squeezing her close.

"Come on we have to go and find the Captain, let's not let his efforts go to waist." Ted said as they left the room after Ted covered Kofi with his jacket and made their way towards the bridge.

"Ok Mr Jericho come about take us back to that Island full turbo drive, lets get our Captain back then kick the UAN's unwelcome arse once and for all.

"Aye sir!"

Ok hope you liked I am sorry I had to do it 33 chapters and no one had died, I think Kofi would have liked that death though, he died a proper hero.

Will they be able to save the other from the dreaded island before night fall, if you want to know just hit review and I will update faster. Thanks for reading.


	36. Turning point

Hey I am back please enjoy.

Turning point

Mickie realised that they were lost, they had been wondering the Island for hours now trying to find something to eat. Their quest had been less than successful, and now Mickie was watching as the sky grew ever darker. They had also not seen anymore glowing trees, it had not been a high concern until they realised that they were lost, now Mickie was starting to get worried.

"Does anyone recognise anything?" she asked pushing a tree limb out of her way and almost walking into another trunk as Randy replied.

"No nothing it all looks the same." He said following Mickie through the thick undergrowth and glancing behind him to look at the other two.

Cody was helping Beth over a fallen tree branch, she had got increasingly weaker as the day had gone on, her recent injury the cause not the actually physical effort but now she looked unnaturally pale and Mickie was worried about her.

Ploughing on through the forest Mickie looked around her trying to see something she recognised anything that would point them in the right direction towards their tree.

"Maybe we should go to higher ground, get our bearings, we maybe able to see something we know." Beth suggested as she pulled herself up next to randy who clutched her under the armpit to help her onto the rocky path.

"Yeah and may I suggest we hurry I don't think we have much time left." Randy said as Mickie looked behind her once more, looking directly in to the glow of the low sun. She predicted that they had an hour maybe a few minutes more before they would be in total darkness, when once again those creatures would be coming for them.

"Come on lets head for that point over there, if we don't see anything we will have to come up with alternative arrangements." Mickie said trying to keep her tone light but everyone knew that they were racing time now.

In an unspoken agreement all four people picked up their pace and ascended the hill hoping to get a better view of the island and a glimpse of the tree that had saved their lives the previous night.

"We will make it Mickie, something is telling me things are about to change." Randy whispered in her ear as clouds began to gather over head and Mickie held in the desire to shiver.

Ted stood in front of Masamba, they needed information out of the man, they did not know where they were in the Pacific ocean, they had been travelling for hours below decks and the Legacy had not been tracking the ships movements as usual, they had no way of telling where the Island was. Melina had elected to go with Ted wanting to find their missing comrades as much as everyone else, but the chief engineer was also angry, she was hopping mad that this man had killed her friend and possibly some of the best people she had ever known. Ted realised that Masamba was not the type of person who was going to give up information easily and Melina might just be able to extract it from him.

Now the man was casually sitting on the single bunk in the barren room and regarding them with curious eyes. Ted wondered briefly why he was not afraid, or angry but Melina didn't care about Masamba's feelings or lack of them she plunged right in.

"You killed my friend, and I am not going to let you get away with that." She hissed at the man and Ted placed a warning hand on her shoulder keeping the woman still.

"I have been threatened by much more intimidating people than you little girl." Masamba said a humour in his voice Ted was surprised by.

"Wanna bet!" Melina shouted as she glowered at Masamba then turned to Ted asking with her eyes to have her way with the high commander.

"You underestimate us Masamba something that you and your predecessor have done and both of you have paid the price, now may I suggest you cooperate with us or you will know the true meaning of pain." Ted said keeping his voice level and this did seem to get Masamba's attention. He stood up and came to the front of the cell placing his hands firmly around the bar and staring at the two people in front of him.

"If you ever get your people back you might want to ask them about true pain." He said looking directly at Melina who stood her ground.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She hissed at him folding her arms across her chest and glaring back at Masamba.

"That island was no ordinary island, there are shall we say some dangerous creatures there, they eat humans, quickly." He added and Ted could tell by the mans body language he was not exaggerating.

"Are they already dead?" Ted asked not able to keep the shake out of his voice but needing to know.

"It's likely, but people have survived the night before, two night's however I would doubt there would be anything left for you to collect in the morning." He smiled and Melina nearly smashed her fist into the wall before Ted grabbed hold of her and physically restrained her.

"Tell us how to get back to the Island, or once we get there I will make sure you are left for the creatures to eat as well." Ted said as Masamba shrugged his shoulders.

"I am already dead commander." Masamba replied as he went and sat down on his bunk and looked at the clock behind Ted and Melina.

"Chop chop I would guess you have about two hours before sunset, clocks ticking I would get a move on if I were you."

Ted didn't need asking twice as an idea jumped into his head. Grabbing Melina by the hand and not giving the woman chance to argue he rushed them up to the bridge and almost collided with John as they ran off the lift.

"Mr Morrison when will the sun set?" Ted asked as the man gave him a withering look but checked for the commander.

"In about four hours." He replied and Ted smiled.

"Ok run a scan of the sun set times along the Pacific ocean, I want ever island on that latitude." Ted said going back to the Captain's chair as Melina followed him.

"Your going to use the sun to get a location, very clever." She smiled at him and Ted beamed back.

"Not just a pretty face am I." He replied as the information came up on his screen and he saw there were only two Islands in the area that could possibly be the one they were looking for.

"How long until we can be there?" He asked and John replied.

"At current speed about three hours."

"Melina I want to cut that down by a couple of hours I need you to go and get that turbo drive working to the maximum, Masamba was right about one thing the clock is ticking." Ted said and Melina gave him a curt nod as she went towards the lift, Ted watched her go before asking Chris to pull Legacy up to full speed and head for the closer of the two Island. He just hoped their luck would be in and they were on that Island. He figured after all they had gone through they were owed a bit of good luck.

Once they had reached the top of the incline all four people turned around and scanned the area below them. The Island looked exactly the same from all angles, the only thing that Randy recognised was the beach they had been on before making their quest back to their tree.

"Damm this how did we get so turned around." Mickie said kicking some rocks off the edge of the cliff and watched as they fell down the other side towards the sea.

"Look we can't panic now we still have an hour, we can get pretty far in that time." Randy said as he watched Beth perch on a rock and wondered just how much further the blonde could go.

"Yeah but in which direction?" She said noticing Randy's stare and pulling herself up to sit straight and not look week. There was no way she was going to slow them down and get them killed, no matter how tired and uncomfortable she was.

Glancing down she noticed there was a small blood stain on her shirt but no one else had noticed anything yet. Beth realised she hand probably bust a stitch nothing more and she shrugged it off.

"Look we need to think about this logically, we know this is not the side of the Island we were on last night, we know this because the side we were on had an outcroppings of beach that we used to escape last nigh." Mickie said putting her Captain's hat back on for a moment and feeling somewhat calmer.

"If we stick to the beaches we will make faster progress not having to climb over things even if the route is longer. Also we will be closer to the water in case we need to take a swim." No one mentioned why they might need to go back into the freezing ocean, but they all nodded in agreement.

Mickie took a chance and looked at Beth her eyes conveying what her words could not. In that one look they asked if each was ok and both said for now yes. Without a word they all stood up and headed down the side of the cliff and on to the soft warm beach below.

The sun was almost gone now, it cast long shadows across the now darkened sand as the four marooned people hurried across the dunes in search for their beach the one they had landed on last night and for the tree that had saved their lives.

Mickie glanced over her shoulder as the sun dipped below the tree line and she knew they had ten minutes before it was gone completely.

"See anything." She called out to Randy and Cody who had ran on ahead to scout around the next corner while Mickie stayed back to help Beth who was now bleeding from her wound and had not managed to hide that fact for long. No one had said anything though, they all knew why she had kept it a secret and now all they had to do was help her.

"Yeah more sand." Randy called as the boys waited for them to catch up and get a look at the beach they were approaching.

"No look there the other side of the beach." Beth pointed as she clutched her hand to her sore chest as three pairs of eyes followed her own.

"That's it, that's where we were last night, ok we have come in from the other side but we did it." Mickie said as she realised that the light was fading fast now and they were going to have to run for it.

Beth was the first to move, she knew they would all be waiting for her anyway she might as well get a head start. Hearing the others come after her Beth started looking through the trees for the distinctive glow of their tree. Seeing nothing yet Beth figured that it was further towards the end of the beach. Halfway across the wide expanse of sand Beth realised she could once again here the hissing of the creatures. Fighting the urge to break out in a full on run Beth knew that she could easily miss the tree if they were going to fast she kept scanning the area and seeing nothing.

"Are you sure this is right." She said to Mickie who was on her left but it was Randy that answered her.

"It doesn't look like it." He said as he slowed to a walk and turned to look behind them. The light was gone now and the darkness had taken over, there was no more brightness of the suns rays to protect them and the forest only presented them with more darkness.

"We need to swim for it again, put more distance between us." Cody said as he headed for the water but randy placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't think that is going to do it this time. We are all tired hungry we won't last five minutes in that cold." He said thinking he and Cody might manage ten minutes but the girls, and especially Beth would not last another freezing night, tree or not.

"Then what do you suggest?" Mickie said feeling angry but with no where to direct it Randy was getting the brunt.

Ignoring Mickie's scowl Randy looked around him but saw nothing of use, he could here the hissing as though it was right inside his head. All four began to back away from the noise as if they knew where it was coming from even though they could see nothing.

"Shit" Cody let hiss between his teeth as he clutched on to Beth's hand both for her sake and his. Beth glanced at him but he couldn't see the frightened look in her eyes because it was too dark.

Mickie was being backed up by Randy now, although she was the only one with a weapon, which was her pocket knife and really was not going to be of much use Randy had pushed her behind him. There had been no argument from the diminutive Captain but Mickie had clutched onto his arm in a vice grip that was reminding Randy Mickie was not as frail as her stature would want you to think.

"We have to go in, we have no choice." Mickie said to Randy as once again water was lapping at their feet and they could now make out the shapes in the darkness.

It was nothing specific, no individual creature was actually visible, it was like watching a wave of a black ocean shimmer and sway in the moon light.

Mickie slapped her hand across her mouth as the creatures crawled ever closer there tiny pincers now visible as the moon was not guarded by clouds on this night and their shiny exoskeleton glinted as they moved.

"God their ugly." Mickie said as the water washed over her calves. The longer they could stay out of the water the better, they had probably ten minutes before they would need to be out of the ocean again and the closer the creatures were the longer it would take for them to retreat and find them once more.

Mickie almost jumped when randy placed his hands around her waist and pulled her tight against his chest as he backed them up until he was up to his waist and Mickie was almost up to her chin. He could here her teeth already starting to chatter as he took a look at Beth and Cody and realised that Cody had Beth in his arms trying to keep the woman out of the ocean. Randy didn't think twice scooping Mickie up he pulled her close and thought it might give them a few more minutes.

Beth saw that like the night before the creatures lined up on the beach not wanting to get into the water. She looked at Cody's face which was only inches from her own and she hoped that she wasn't to heavy for him, but the young man did not seem to be bothered by her weight at all.

"We can't stay her for ever." She said to him as she felt him tense and she flicked her gaze back to the beach.

"No looks like we are going right now." He said as a few of the beetles plopped into the water and began swimming clumsily towards them.

Just as Cody backed up further into the water followed by Randy clutching Mickie to his chest and hoping this was no indeed it a bright light shone from behind them.

The beetles started to scatter the ones in the water seemed to just splash around and sink.

"What the…" Mickie started as the distinct sound of a boats engine roared up.

"Captain, Commander, everyone climb on." Ted called as he swung the boat sideways and offered them a hand. John Morrison also left his seat and hauled up first Beth then Cody and they all sat smiling at one another in the bottom of the small life boat.

"Don't ask." Ted said as John cranked up the engine and sped back towards Legacy.

"Put it all in your report Commander I will look forward to reading it, that is after I have had a long hot bath." Mickie said as she felt Randy's arms wrap around her once more.

Climbing back aboard Legacy was one of the best things Mickie had ever felt in a long time, everyone was there, all her crew happy faces looking back at her, her family reunited. Ok they had lost the Dauntless at least for now but everyone was safe and that was the main thing.

No one was angry at the fact they had given up the chance to go home and top have come back and rescued the rest of their crew. Melina also squished her with her embrace but there was something in the Latino's eyes that told Mickie something was not quite right.

Standing now on the upper deck of Legacy out in the wind and her hair flying about her face as it was whipped from her hair grip she looked down at the simple wooden casket.

"He was a fine officer and a wonderful man. He put his life on the line for me and this crew on many occasions. And I believe he would not have chosen a better way to have died than in serving this crew, this family in our quest to get home and safe.

All of us, so now as we commit his body to the water I don't want you to morn his death, but celebrate his life, smile when you think of the joy he brought this crew, laugh when you think of his sense of humour he shared with us and the time he spent just being your friend. ." Mickie allowed a single tear run down her face as the whistle blew and Randy, Cody, Ted and John pushed Kofi's body off the edge of their ship and into the ocean.

Melina turned to Mickie and gave her a knowing look. This was personal now, the man in their brig was going to tell them everything even if Mickie had to peel off his skin with a red hot poker to get it.

Turning now for the open door to go back below decks Randy placed his hand on Mickie's shoulder and the brunette turned and looked him in the eyes.

"I have seen that look before Mickie and you know if we do this there maybe no going back, I mean for any of us."

"Then so be it." She replied as Beth came over and stepped into the hallway which was now void of people who had gone to the observation lounge for Kofi's wake.

"Mickie, I would like you to know, if there is anything I can do just ask ok." Beth said as she followed Mickie and Randy down the corridor until they got on to the lift where the doors closed on three of the four survivors from the Island.

"I might take you up on that offer Beth, I hope you know what you are getting yourself in for." Mickie replied and Beth had never heard that edge to Mickie's voice before, it was pure hate and Beth was very glad she had never been on the wrong side of the Legacy Captain. The doors opened and Cody swung around in his chair, he had been there for a few moments as they agreed the four of them would have a meeting before joining the rest of their crew. There was much for them to discuss especially about how they were going to use the knowledge of the creatures to their advantage and just how they were going to pull it off.

Beth walked over to Cody and took his hand a gave it a small squeeze, a look passed between them that Randy knew he and Mickie had shared on many occasions and it simply stated later. Now they had things to talk about and there was very little time as Legacy drifted in the shadow of the island while it crew mourned the passing of one of their own.

"I think we should put Masamba out there and let him here that hissing." Cody started but Mickie was already shaking her head.

"No he is not afraid to die, and I don't want to kill him, not yet anyway."

"What about sensory deprivation, that always breaks them eventually." Randy said liking the idea of shutting that monster in a tank and isolating him for days.

"Takes too long." Beth interjected before Mickie could say anything, a silence grew between them as Legacy's sensor alarms went off.

"Shit stations." Mickie cried as Cody ran to the helm Randy to tactical and Beth to oops.

"It's ok Mickie it's the cavalry." Beth said a huge grin on her face as she recognised some of the sips currently headed for them.

"At last I sent that message hours ago." Mickie said standing up and switching on the radio.

"Mark glad you could finally join us." She said as she counted a dozen ships beginning to close around them as the rebels fleet stood shoulder to shoulder with Legacy in what both camps believed would be the final show down.

Ok I am wicked hope you enjoyed that at least I ended it on a happier note than usual, please if you could leave feed back it would be lovely, as ever thank you for reading I will update soon and I promise the next few chapters are going to be explosive.


	37. Bad girls

Here we go new update for you hope you enjoy.

Bad girls

Mickie got up from her Captain's chair, the rebels were all ready to go, there was nothing else for them to collect, nothing else for them to do. Their fleet was ready it just needed a destination.

Mickie looked at Beth and the blonde nodded at her and silently stood up and joined Mickie in the middle of the room. Randy looked at them both, his look spoke volumes but not a word was uttered as the two women left the bridge and entered the lift.

It had been decided early on that Mickie and Beth would interrogate Masamba, Randy had agreed but not willingly.

Mickie had not wanted Randy to do it not because she didn't think he could handle it but because she knew that her first officer was likely to take things to far too quickly. The animosity Randy had built up for these people was likely to explode and she wanted answers before she killed Masamba.

It also was not said but Beth knew first hand just how the UAN extracted information and her knowledge could be invaluable, now standing shoulder to shoulder on the lift Mickie could feel the tension coming of Beth and surely from herself as well.

Everything she had been trained to do was about to be thrown out of the window and she was going to have to ignore the rule book as well.

The doors to the lift opened on deck 14, the hallway was deserted and it was quite. Deck 14 was not a well populated area at the best of times but now it was completely devoid of people and it was the way the girls wanted it.

Pushing open the door to the brig Mickie glanced at Be5th but the woman's eyes were fixed on the dark man occupying the cell.

"Welcome back Captain, I have to say your escape from that island was truly remarkable." Masamba said getting up and approaching the front of the cell.

"No thanks to you, it was something I do not wish to repeat." Mickie replied going over to the weapons locker in the room and opening it with her key.

"Umm I take it this isn't a social visit." Masamba said as he looked back at Beth who was staring at him with her eyes narrowed and her body tense.

"Unfortunately for you no." Mickie replied as she walked back over and handed Beth a pair of hand cuffs.

"My my you girls aren't planning on torturing information out of me are you." Masamba said, his voice sounded cocky and assured to anyone who wasn't looking deeper. Beth saw his eyes flick to the items in Mickie's hand and the reflex swallowing in his throat.

"No we won't touch you if you tell us where to find your fleet." Mickie said pulling a length of cord though her fingers and wrapping it into a neat little bunch in her hand.

"Oh promises promises." Masamba said but he was backing away from the cell door now, he looked from one woman to another and realised he had no where to go.

Looking at them though he could probably out power them, if they were alone but with both and weapons he was becoming more unsure. Sambo had said they were week of sprit, that they had plenty of chances to destroy their ships and kill him but had always let him go. Masamba wonder if that was still the case were they bluffing or did they really mean it this time.

He didn't have to wait long, a cold water jet hit him full in the chest and he was knocked down on to his arse. Fighting the jet spray was useless it was far to powerful and now the floor was soaking wet he could get no purchase to get up with. Beth was next to him the instant the hose died and had cuffed one of his wrists. He tried to pull away but he had swallowed some water and was half choking on it. Mickie had grabbed his other arm and they had pulled him up flush against the bars. His right hand was shackled to the bar and his left was then cuffed the same way. Both arms were stretched out to the side but slid easily up and down so he was still able to sit on the floor.

"I would have dangled me by the wrists." He choked out now recovering from his impromptu drink.

"We have a better idea, on your feet and then face the bars." Mickie said looking at her prisoner with fire in her eyes and a metal stick in her hand.

"And if I don't." Masamba said between closed teeth. Beth needed no prompting, she took the metal stick from Mickie and placed it against Masamba's chest and pushed the on button.

Masamba felt the electricity running though him, everything hurt from his eyes to his toes and he couldn't stop his muscles from contracting for seconds after Beth had removed the rod.

"Good these, now turn around and face the bars." Mickie said giving Beth and short nod as Masamba complied this time.

He couldn't see the girls now but he could here them, one of them had moved off to the side and a humming noise started to come through the air vents. The other was still behind him, he imagined it was Beth holding that metal stick out and he was not keen to experience that again.

Taking a quick glance over his shoulder Masamba saw Beth was right behind him and Mickie was just joining her. She had with her a pair of what looked like coats and his suspicions were confirmed when Beth pulled her arms though the one she was given and zipped it up to her neck.

"I noticed you people like your rooms nice and cold so I thought I would make you feel more at home." Mickie said as Masamba realised the noise was cold air being blown though the ducts. He was wet already and only in a thin shit and a pair of thin linen trousers. He began to shiver as Mickie came up close now and almost whispered in his ear. Lean forward, palms on the bars head down and lock your knees." She said in a calm voice and Masamba did as he was asked. He didn't realised how uncomfortable this would be until he had stood there for a few moments.

"Good now see when you do as you are asked we do not hurt you." Mickie said now standing right next to him. Masamba could see the puffs of air emitted by her breath in the now freezing room and his arms began to shake.

"Where is your fleet?" Mickie asked but Masamba shook his head, they did mean business and there was no way he was going to betray his people, they would keep him alive forever punishing him if they found out he had.

Mickie saw Masamba close his lips tight and she nodded at Beth who then poked him in the back with the metal stick and gave him a blast. Masamba's body went ridged and he started to fall forward and buckle at the knees.

"Stand up." Mickie shouted as she threw a bucket of freezing water over his body which was almost turning to ice on contact.

Masamba howled in pain but he locked his knees and elbows and remained standing in the stress position while Beth circled him. She had not said a word to the man yet, she had been watching him, making him afraid of her so that when she finally asked him to tell her something he would feel compelled to answer.

"Where are they and we will let you go." Mickie said her mouth right next to his ear this time and Masamba almost told them, this pain was worse than anything he had felt before. He felt like his whole body was on fire and it hurt to breath.

"No." He said simply as he clenched his jaw tight and held himself against the wall.

Beth came around to look him in the eyes now, the woman scared him, she had no emotion behind her look and she wasn't even flinching when she saw his agony, now she was looking at him when she placed the metal rod against his neck and Masamba preyed to die.

Beth watched keeping her face cold as all the muscles in Masamba's neck stood out, his eyes slammed closed and he began to fall down the wall once more. Mickie quickly threw more water on him watching as it made his clothes see though and his skin flush bright pink, as she ordered him to stand once more. When this time he did not immediately comply Beth gave him a short burst of electric and he stood up. Mickie could tell he was getting weaker though his stance was less ridged, he kept swaying slightly and his eyes now remained only half open.

"We can do this all day Masamba and in the end the world is only so big, we will find your people we just want to do this as quickly as possible." Mickie stated as she walked back over and got the length of cord from the floor she had wound up earlier.

Masamba gave her a scared look, Beth could see the white of his eyes as Mickie tied the cord around his neck and then pulled it back across his spine and down between his legs and back up to his hands.

"This will hurt if you make us do it Masamba, where is your fleet." Mickie said as she pulled the rope until it was secure but not tight.

He did not utter a word this time he just shook his head, it was the tiniest movement but Beth didn't think twice. Placing the rod between Masamba's shoulder blades she pressed hard as the man tensed and arched away, pulling the cord hard against his neck and crotch as he did so. His body was trying to get away from choking it's self as well as the pain the rod was causing. He finally collapsed on to the floor as Mickie threw another bucket of water over him and he lie panting until he shakily got to his feet and resumed his old position as Beth advanced on him with the metal rod.

Masamba did not want to go though that again, he got to his feet as quickly as they would allow and braced himself against the wall. He took a chance and looked up right in to Beth's eyes and he wished he hadn't. She was looking at him with a cold glare which made him shiver even harder than he already was. She allowed one side of her mouth to quirk up before she spoke for the first time.

"Masamba where is your fleet?" She asked her voice lighter than he had expected, it was as though she was daring him not to answer again, that she wanted to continue torturing him that she was enjoying it.

He took a deep breath and he saw Beth back off half a step, he could not go through this anymore it was not worth it, maybe he could hide once this was all over, or better yet deny saying anything, he would have the scars to prove the torture.

"They are gathered around Jamaica preparing a counter strike against you." He said as he looked at them imploring both women to believe him.

"Thank you." Beth said leaning forward and whispering in his ear as she backed away Masamba saw the sad look in the woman's eyes and he suddenly realised they were not finished with him yet.

"How many ships?" Mickie said producing a key top his hand cuffs and Masamba bit out the answer.

"About fifteen, but it might be more." He replied and Mickie released one hand.

"Do they have the Dauntless and is she fixed?" Beth asked as she untied the cord from around his neck and Masamba slumped back to the floor shivering in the puddle he had landed in.

"Yes they have her, I don't think they have managed to get her working yet she was too badly damaged."

Beth and Mickie believed every word the man had said, he was too week and to scared to lie to them. Mickie could feel the pit of her stomach begin to churn, the deep feeling of revulsion at what she had had to do did not sit well with her but she also realised that it had been necessary to save her own crew and possibly and entire race of people.

Moving back slowly Mickie released Masamba's other arm and backed up out of the cell. Neither woman turned off the air conditioning which was set to maximum and neither offered the man anything warm to wear.

Beth closed the cell door and looked down on this man, a representative of an organisation she had hated her entire life, and here he was small cowering and week.

He had given in far sooner than she had expected, it was still light outside and so they would have to wait for a while before they made their move.

They walked side by side back to the lift not speaking a word between them even as the doors closed on them and the lift began to move. Both women were trying to come to terms with what they had just done to another living person and both were finding it hard to step back from the dark abyss that threatened to pull them inside.

As the doors opened Mickie laid eyes on Randy and she smiled at him, he was warm and friendly and he made her heart flutter in her chest even now. She didn't speak to him just went up to him and threw her arms around him and held on for dear life. She used his strength to cling on to what she had left of the good inside of her and she slowly began to feel better.

"I hope I never have to do that again." She said quietly in Randy's ear as she looked at Beth who was talking quietly to Cody as the young man rubbed her back. Mickie was sorry they did not have more time but right now it was a luxury they could not afford.

Giving Randy a quick nod he stood up and looked over and John who followed him off the bridge and into the lift. Mickie turned from their disappearing figures and switched on the radio.

"Captain James to Prometheus we have a location Mark."

Randy was sat in the boat with a barely conscious Masamba. John was driving and he glanced at them once or twice but said nothing. Randy had secured Masamba with rope tying his hands together and his feet so the man could only shuffle along. When they had found him Randy did not think too much into what went on in that brig. He knew it was bad but he just couldn't bring himself to see either woman be that vicious.

Now he was glad he had not been there, he could not have watched as Mickie allowed the darkness that had built within them all over the past month to consume her as she took it out on another human being. Looking at the dark man his lips still blue and his body shaking every so often randy thought this was probably the kindest thing to do, if not just for poetic justice. The boat finally grounded and Randy pushed Masamba over board and dragged him un the beach and tied him to the tree Randy himself had been suspended from. Looking behind him Randy saw the sun was low behind the trees and the last echelons of light were filtering through the trees he could almost hear the anticipation of the creatures that hunkered within the darkness.

"You can't leave me here, I told you everything." Masamba whispered out harshly, he was barely able to stand in his restraints let alone fight Randy as he tied him up and backed away.

"We know so we are putting you out of your misery." Randy said in a voice that truly conveyed sorrow as he and John ran for the boat as the last of the light dipped behind the horizon and the hissing began.

The life boat was only half way back to legacy when Masamba's screams echoed all they way across the bay and made Randy take in a sharp breath.

"It's done." He said to John who just nodded his head as he pulled the boat up and on to Legacy.

As soon as Randy and John returned to the bridge Mickie gave the signal to move the fleet out. Legacy took point flanked by two of the rebel ships and then backed up by a line of four.

They knew that they were probably going to be facing uneven odds buy the element of surprise was on their side for once, and this time there was no deterrent from using the nuke they had on board. Mickie had thought about it long and hard and she realised with the UAN fleet only close to Jamaica they could deal the UAN a lethal blow on the ocean and on land, maybe they could put and end to this once and for all.

Beth was awake when the knock at her door came, she didn't bother getting out of bed she just called for the person to come in. When the door opened it cast a shaft of light into her eyes and she had to blink before she could tell who it was at her door.

"Beth I came to see if you were ok?" It was Cody and Beth allowed a small smile to creep on to her face.

"Yeah I will be." She said as she sat up and patted the bed beside her and Cody came over and sat down.

"I just wondered if you fancied some company." He asked awkwardly and Beth answered him by smiling at him and leaning forward and capturing his lips with her own.

Cody responded with enthusiasm wrapping his hands around her waist and leaning into her so she was almost flush against him.

"Bring me back in to the light Cody." She whispered as they broke apart for air and he nodded in the darkness as he pushed her back onto her pillow and recaptured her lips once more.

Mickie could feel Randy's chest expanding behind her as she felt his grip on her waist tighten and she felt very safe. She knew that in five hours there would be no turning back, no redemption and no running.

She turned in Randy's embrace and nuzzled her nose into his chest, she breathed deeply and inhaled his unique sent. She needed something to make her feel human again, but not to human, Mickie realised that she would need to keep the part of her alive that she awakened in the brig with Masamba. She needed that lack of consciousness to do what she had to do and right now anything that was keeping her from enveloping it completely was only going to hold her back.

Unable to sleep she got up and crept out of her cabin, closing the door softly behind her she made her way to the observation lounge and padded across the thick carpet silently to the large windows. She could make out the rebel ships which flanked them, they were like silent ghost ships in the moon light and she remembered the last time she had stood here, how Randy's reflection had appeared in the glass and they had shared their first kiss. It seemed like a lifetime ago now and Mickie did not feel like the same person anymore. She felt for the first time she was alone and she realised she didn't mind that actually that was how it was supposed to be. The Captain alone while all her crew were around her. Sitting down at one of the tables now Mickie took in a deep breath and looked out at the stars that twinkled beyond the reach of the ship and wondered just how may worlds were out there. If her recent experience had taught her anything, it was that anything was possible and not to count out the impossible. Getting up finally from her position on the chair Mickie turned around and walked out of the observation lounge and along the quite corridors of Legacy. She was still the best ship the US Navy had and she was all hers, this crew was the finest she had ever worked with and Mickie knew without a shadow of a doubt that they would win this war.

Ok you know what's coming next big battle scene hope you enjoyed this rather dark chapter I loved writing it I hope you were not to shocked, ok I hope you were that's what I was going for. As ever review and I write faster.


	38. Endgame Pt 1

Ok if there is anyone still reading this here is the update.

Endgame Pt1

Mickie had managed to get back into bed without waking Randy up, it was a minor miracle though as she had not been quite, she managed to bag her foot on her coffee table and a string of expletives had left her mouth. Randy however had slept on peacefully while Mickie had hopped around the room clutching her toe. Now she was sitting in her Captain's chair scowling at the man next to her, Randy looked over at her and caught the disdainful look on Mickie's face and he frowned at her.

"What have I done this time?" He said truthfully confused as to how he had managed to anger his Captain this time but Mickie was remaining tight lipped.

"Nothing just make sure you have those battle drills ready for an hours time." She said curtly as she stood up and walked into her ready room. Randy was about to follow her to ask what the matter was but he was interrupted by the radio.

"Commander, we are all go down here, torpedo bays are fully loaded and the missile launchers are set, anything else you need." Melina said as Randy gazed at his monitor and then behind him to Ted's smiling face.

"How about a huge scoop of luck lieutenant." He replied, they had seemed to come to this, easy banter, not mentioning the up and coming battle seemed to keep everyone's already frayed nerves at bay. Randy found this pretence easy but Mickie seemed to have gone the other way. She was moody and curt when she spoke, she seemed to be distancing herself once more from them all, like it was in the early days and Randy could understand why.

"I will keep mu fingers crossed sir." Melina replied forcing Randy's attention back as the woman ended the communication and Randy was left sitting on the bridge staring at the back of Cody's head.

He then had an idea reaching for the radio he pressed for the engine room again and got Melina back.

"Is Beth down there with you Melina?" He asked trying to keep his voice light while he stared at the closed door to Mickie's ready room.

"Sorry sir I have not seen her since this morning, maybe you could try her cabin." The engineer said as Randy frowned. It was not like Beth to be neither on the bridge or in the engine room and he turned to look at Cody who was now facing him.

"Do you have any clue where she might have gone?" He asked his helmsman but he was already shaking his head.

"I can go and look for her if you would like." Cody offered but this time it was Randy's turn to shake his head.

"No I will go myself. Ted you have the bridge, I have done those battle drills, any sign of the UAN I am on channel 4." Randy said grabbing his radio and throwing a final look at Mickie's door.

"Oh and if you can prize her out of there I would be grateful." Randy said as Ted gave him a smirk as he took Randy's chair and continued monitoring the waters ahead which for now were dark and calm.

Mickie needed to be alone, she was not really angry at Randy, he had actually done nothing and she was totally overreacting. Ever since her encounter with Masamba she had been feeling strangely angry, the only time she had felt at piece was when she was watching the stars last night. Now sat looking at files and plans she couldn't concentrate, she had read the same paragraph at least three times now and she hadn't even taken in the information.

She knew that ultimately that in a battle like they were likely to be facing there was no time for to much thinking, that the best made plans often fell apart and most of what she had experienced in her lifetime told her that she would have to rely on instinct. Turning in her chair now she looked back out of the view port, the sun was beginning to rise now and she could see that it was going to be a beautiful day.

The ocean was almost too calm though, and Mickie wondered if Masamba had indeed lied to them, if his last act was to stop them from finding their fleet and destroying them once and for all. Dismissing the idea quickly Mickie turned back to Ted's latest battle plans and predictions determined to read it this time. She could feel the anger build within her once more as she thought about the last high commander and his eyes as he had told them about where his fleet had gone, there was fear in those white orbs, and sadness. Mickie knew without a doubt that the man had not been lying and that she should really be reading this report and planning strategy with Mark and John from the rebel fleet.

Randy had checked Beth's cabin the mess hall and he was now wondering deck 14 on a hunch. Coming to the brig he saw the blonde sat on the bunk with her head low. She did not move when he entered but she did speak.

"I lost myself when Sambo had me you know, I didn't live I just existed, I only breathed because my body made me and I only fought back because of the idea that I might know freedom. I never realised that being on the other side, being the one giving out the punishment was just as bad." Beth said in an almost whisper as Randy came closer to her as he finally perched on the bench next to her.

"I think Mickie is in the same place." She said looking up into his eyes now and Randy could see no tears there but he could see a hollowness that he had never seen in her eyes before.

"I think she is too." Randy said reaching out and wrapping his arm around her shoulder as she leaned into him slightly.

"We need to get her back before we meet the UAN fleet." Beth said standing up quickly and physically gathering herself before Randy's eyes.

"She thinks we are going to win this war with brains and detachment, she has forgotten that many a battle is won on heart, that the will to win can sometimes beat the odds." Randy could only stare up at her, he didn't know where it was coming from but in that moment Beth reminded him of Mickie more than Mickie herself did right now. More to the point she was right, Randy stood up and joined Beth at the front of the cell.

"You cane to ask me to talk to her." Beth said simply and Randy could do nothing but nod at her. There was no time for pretence they needed their Captain back before they reached their destination and both of them knew it.

"I will talk to her." The blonde said and that was all she said as she walked out of the brig and left randy alone. having to suppress a shiver Randy only waited a few moments before following Beth out of the room and back towards the bridge.

Ted had been checking the situation ahead of them for a while and he had to look twice when he spotted something in the water ahead of them. Just as he was about to call Mickie Randy and Beth strode on to the bridge.

"Sir I have something 20 miles due East, looks like several ships." He said and randy had to pause and look at Ted. Beth didn't even break stride as she went straight into the ready room without knocking.

"Find out of they are moving and how many there are." Randy ordered as he re took his chair and Ted went to tactical and called up all the information they could get from long range scanners.

Tapping his fingers on his console randy was trying to focus on two things at once. One what was Beth saying to Mickie, how was she going to get Mickie back to her self and was this it had they found the UAN fleet.

"Mark to Legacy do you see what I see." The radio crackled throwing Randy right back into the situation in the room.

"We do, we are trying to find out more information before we try anything to hasty Mark." Randy said hoping to keep the illusion up for just a few more moments before it was shattered ad they would have to face reality.

"Ok let us know when you want us to move into position." Mark replied as Randy heard Ted's monitors beep time and again and he hoped it was not because it was detecting more enemy ships.

"Ted what's happening!" Randy finally demanded after a few minutes of nothing but engine noise and the beeping of Ted's console.

"I have identified eleven ships, they are currently not moving, they seem to be docked just off the harbour to Jamaica's main port, I can not tell if they have spotted us yet but I would say if we can see them they pretty much can see us." Ted said and Randy nodded at him.

"Ok I suggest we throttle back." Randy said just as the door to the ready room opened and Mickie strode back on to the bridge.

When Beth had just stormed in Mickie was almost about to hit her when the blonde caught her eyes and shook her head. Sitting back down quickly Mickie let out a huff of air and folded her arms.

"Go on then tell me I have to stop pulling away." Mickie said there was nothing wrong with her powers of observation, even if she was a little wound up.

"No, I won't because you already know this; I have come to tell you that what you are feeling as far as I can tell is normal." Beth said knowing that the anger and the hurt she was feeling was probably what the high commander's had lacked, that was how they had tortured people for years, they had no conscience, they had no moral compass that pointed them in the right direction, so they could look their victims in the eyes and watch and enjoy their pain.

"What I am feeling Miss Phoenix is pissed off." Mickie said trying to keep up her wall that she had meticulously built over the years, a wall which had crumbled within a month of being alone out here and she was now desperately trying to rebuild.

"Maybe, but I think you are mainly feeling anger, anger that some part of you enjoyed Masamba breaking because of what we did, and now you can't help but feel guilty about that." Beth said now taking the chair opposite Mickie and leaning forward and taking the Captain by the hand.

"It is ok to feel bad, but right now we need you, this crew needs you." Beth said as Mickie levelled her gaze with the blonde and looked into her blue eyes as they stared back at her brown ones.

"I will be there for them always." Mickie said quietly as Beth squeezed her hand imploring her to look at her once more.

"I know, but right now they don't, you need to fight from in here, not up here." Beth said pointing from Mickie's chest to her head and Mickie understood.

"Give me one piece of ground to stand on and I can move the Earth." Mickie intoned as Beth let go of her hand and stood up.

"I have no idea what that means but I like it." She said and Mickie smiled at her. It felt good to smile again and she stood up to.

Throwing open the door to her ready room she heard Randy give the order to throttle back and she frowned.

"Belay that order Mr Rhodes, keep her on this heading get the Prometheus and the Apollo to come around in a wide arch." Mickie gave Randy a quick wink as Beth perched herself on the arm of Randy seat and gave his shoulder a quick squeeze as the Commander got on the radio and informed the Rebel crew of their new approach plan.

"Orton to Mark, come wide and cover the flanks." He said as the rebel leader acknowledged him.

"Bring the Triumph and the Havana up to cover those gaps in our aft sides, then move the rest in a wide semi circle behind." Mickie said studying her schematics on her console until she was happy nothing was getting through.

They were also not going to be fooled by the seemingly dormant ships again, they were not getting themselves backed into a corner. No they were going to open fire as soon as they were in rage.

"Captain James to the frontier." Mickie spoke once more into the radio and John's voice came back.

"Make sure behind us remains clear, any sign of trouble and I want you and the Georgetown to provide cover fire until we can swing this operation around." Mickie said ignoring any feeling of doubt that entered her mind, this was no time for second guessing and they all knew it.

"Aye Ma'am." Was all John replied with as the two ships pulled back slightly and started scanning the waters behind.

"Fleet in position Ma'am." Ted confirmed as Mickie stood up and placed her hand on Cody's shoulder. It was a now familiar sight as the petite woman stood looking out the windows at the empty ocean, the ships were not yet in visual rage but were showing large on their scanners.

The ships had yet to move and Mickie was hoping that it was because they were not expected. That the UAN thought that the rebels had been weekend to the point of not being a threat, and that the crew of Legacy were either dead or slaves. Mickie realised that the UAN's complacency was likely to be their down fall in the end and Mickie was going to take any advantage she could get.

Realising she wasn't alone she turned her head slightly to see Randy at her shoulder and she gave him a slight smile as he stood straight next to her. He didn't try to touch her or to comfort her with his words, now was not the time. He was just letting her know that he would follow her wherever she was going to take them.

"Mr Orton are the torpedo bay fully loaded?" Mickie said turning to him and keeping her face neutral at the look on his face as he looked back at her with adoration and he had to almost ask her to repeat the question.

"Yes Captain, missile ready to launch also." He said finally and Mickie gave him a curt nod.

"Mr Debasie, is there any movement from that fleet yet?" She asked now turning on her heel and catching Beth's eye on the way around as they passed as silent look as Ted checked his readout's once more.

"Nothing Ma'am." He replied as his fingers flew over the console making nothing was sneaking up on them from the side.

"How long until intercept?" Mickie asked returning to her chair and sitting down and crossing her legs.

"At current speed fifteen minutes." John Morrison replied from his station at oops and Mickie glanced at him before turning her attention back to the windows where there was still no sign of the enemy ships.

"Shouldn't we be able to see them by now?" Randy said as Mickie shifted in her chair and Beth turned around quickly almost causing herself to trip over her own legs in her haste.

"There decoys, probably beacons low in the water to confuse us, they might not have been expecting us this quickly but they were expecting us." Beth said as her eyes grew wide and she saw Mickie tense in her chair.

"Captain James to all Rebel ships do any of you have anything on scanners apart from the ship dead in front of us?" She asked but no one had anything and Mickie raised her eyebrow.

"Where the hell are you?" She said under her breath as they reached weapons range of the vessels that were currently not there.

"Ma'am 90 degrees West a large fleet just emerged from one of the out lying Islands, they will be here in less than five minutes." Ted said as Mickie and Randy got on the radio together. Randy alerted the engine room while Mickie told their own fleet to come around and face the UAN vessels that were coming at them at an extraordinary speed.

"They were waiting for us Mickie." Beth said as she stood next to the Legacy Captain as now the UAN ships loomed large in their windows as their own fleet had not managed to get fully into position.

"This is your Captain, Battle stations." Mickie called so that every member of both crews, rebel and Legacy could here it. Turning to Beth once more she placed her hand on the blonde's shoulder and took in a deep breath.

"This time we finish it." Mickie said as she felt the Legacy engines roar underneath her feet as Cody swung the ship a full 90 degrees to face the UAN.

Beth didn't say anything she just looked out of the windows as time seemed to almost stop then all of a sudden it started again as weapons fire rocked Legacy.

Tune in for part 2 soon sorry I ended it there but I couldn't help myself hope you enjoyed it anyway.


	39. Endgame Pt2

Ok quick update for you mainly because I couldn't wait either.

Endgame Pt2

The ship rocked for a second almost feeling like it was suspended on it's side until it came crashing back to the water. Sirens blared all around the bridge as hands flew over consoles and clung on to anything that was nailed down.

"Damage report!" Mickie cried as Ted checked the ship.

"Minor damage to outer hull it grazed us Ma'am it was Cody's driving that caused us to tip." Ted said with a gleam in his eye which Cody returned before he had to manoeuvre out of the way of a second missile.

"Get the Prometheus to come around she is in to tight." Mickie shouted over the crash of a missile against a ship.

"That was the Havana she has taken a big hit." Randy said checking he readouts. Legacy rocked in the water as a UAN ship closed the distance and set off yet another missile, it missed Legacy but didn't miss the Georgetown behind her.

"Shit heavy damage to John ship he is going to have to pull back." Randy said as Beth gave him a quick look but went back to helping Cody plot a cause through all the battling ships.

"Ted lock on target time to thin out their ranks." Mickie said clutching on to her chair as Legacy came around fast for another assault.

"Fire at will!" Mickie called as Ted let off a missile which collided with the nearest UAN ship and the ship almost exploded into a million pieces. A cheer went up from the bridge except from Mickie who eyed Beth as she gave her a look which said it far from over.

"Great one down how many to go?" Mickie called over the excited and adrenaline enthused commotion on the bridge.

"I count nine, looks like the Apollo has taken one out but the Georgetown is still in trouble." Ted confirmed as Cody steered Legacy towards the stricken ship as another missile hit it.

"No!" Beth cried as the ship seemed to explode on impact, she clutched Cody shoulder tight as she watched her brothers ship sink in an echo of what had happened to her husband. "Ted fire forward torpedo's take that ship out." Beth called and Ted didn't even bother to ask Mickie if she agreed the Captain was already nodding her head. Ted fired and the UAN ship was almost torn in half. They didn't stuck around to watch it go down though the gun fire coming from all side was telling them there was still much to do.

Mickie knew that Legacy's weapons were much more powerful than the UAN'S but the rebels were equipped with the weaker weapons, they were not able to hit and run and cause the damage Legacy was. The Rebel ships were taking a beating and Mickie knew they had to re group.

"Legacy to Prometheus, Mark we need to pull back, form a line and out flank them." Mickie said down the radio, what came back was not encouraging. His voice was distorted and what he said was broken up. Mickie could just about tell that he was going to follow her plan. Giving Ted the nod they pulled Legacy back followed by the rest of the rebel fleet.

Hoping that they could still here her Mickie issued a wide band order as the rebel fleet and Legacy began their attack again.

"Take her in Mr Rhodes, it's time to plough the road." Mickie said as Randy smirked at her. Mickie had lined the rebel ship behind her in a kind of triangle formation, the UAN ships were scattered but had formed some kind of half arch keeping the rebel ships from approaching Jamaica.

Cody thrust Legacy forward as Beth clutched his chair and pointed out coarse corrections in his ear. He didn't mind what she had told him made a lot of sense, this was not like fighting navel simulations, or Russian subs this was like swatting mosquitoes that you knew would give you malaria.

"Fire!" Mickie said making Cody jump as he watched the lead UAN ship pitch in the water, the ship almost rolled onto its side. Mickie got off another shot at its vulnerable underbelly which shot a hole straight though the ship. Beth was almost sure she could see daylight through that hole until the ship righted it's self again only to start to sink.

"Mark take your ship and the Triumph and take out that ship on the far left." Mickie said and this time the radio came through clearer.

"Aye Captain, you know we might just win this." Mark said and Mickie nodded in agreement, even though the man couldn't possibly see it.

"Cody I want that ship, the big one with the gun mounts. Randy talk to the Havana and the Apollo I want them to go for the smaller ships either side." Mickie said now feeling a plan coming to fruition. As she watched the last four UAN ships try to regroup she could see them trying now not to fight but to run.

"Mark quick I do not want them to get away." Mickie radioed the Prometheus as the ships got to the fleeing UAN vessel just in time. Mickie allowed a smile to slip on to her face as she caught Beth's attention. Is our little payload ready?" Mickie asked the blonde as she returned her smile.

"Yes Mickie all we have to do is get into position." Beth replied as she sat on Cody's lap and input the Co-ordinates. Cody was confused at first until he could see what she was doing. Beth had pulled Legacy around behind the largest of the UAN vessels, the other ships were occupied with the rebel ships and so it was on it's own against Legacy.

Beth was not shocked to see them start to run, run right towards their homeland, right at Jamaica.

"Not to close Beth, we have to time this just right." Mickie said as Beth throttled back as she felt Cody's arms wrap around her waist slightly as she tensed in her seat.

"This is Mickie James Captain of Legacy, we will accept only your unconditional surrender or we will blow you and your home to kingdom come." Mickie said standing on her bridge and staring straight at the backside of a very large very scared UAN ship.

It had not gone unnoticed by Randy that she had not said the US navel vessel, she had just addressed them as Legacy and he was secretly very glad, but that was a conversation for later, now he knew there almost certainly would be a later.

"Captain James, you may destroy this ship, but you will never destroy Jamaica." A man's voice came back, Mickie did not recognise the voice but she did recognise the arrogance.

"Want to bet." She said with a sneer and she looked down at Beth, the woman crocked up half a smile as her blue eyes flashed at Mickie something she was sure was reflected in her own gaze.

"I would not go issuing threats Captain if you cannot back them…"

"Cut transmission, are we in range Ted?" Mickie said turning to look at her old friend and seeing that there was no doubt in his eyes either, they had given these people every chance and still they kept on coming.

"Aye Ma'am!" Ted saluted at the same time and Mickie allowed a board grin to grace her features before they fell sober once more and she turned to randy and caught his hand.

"Mr Debasie fire."

The bridge went silent, all Randy could feel were the warm fingers clutching on to his so tightly he thought she must be trying to break his hand. Randy turned his head from face to face. John Morrison was flicking his eyes from his consol to the windows he looked nervous but excited, Mike Mizanin had come to stand near him glancing back and forth until he took John's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Randy's eyes flicked to Ted's who was staring right back at him with a small smile on his face. It was a knowing look, a look of someone who knew it was always going to come to this, he was just waiting for everyone else to catch up. His eyes moved back to the front of the room. Beth and Cody were sat at the helm, Beth in Cody's lap with his hands around her waist. She was looking out to sea while he was focused on her profile. Out of all of them this probably meant more to Beth than anyone else aboard Legacy, yet she was sat there watching with quite eyes as the biggest event in her life time was about to take place.

Finally Mickie caught his attention by placing her hand on his cheek, she placed pressure there until he turned his head towards her and looked into her eyes.

"So much death Randy, maybe it's time to start living." She said quietly as she placed her lips on his as a huge boom could be heard. It started below the water like a rumble, almost as if the engines were given a sudden boost, then the shock wave hit them, it had already enveloped the UAN ship nearly a mile away now as Legacy had left as quickly as they had fired the nuke. If the UAN ship had followed them and not stayed because of their arrogance they would still have been alive. Mickie knew they would stay though, and they hadn't let her down.

The shock wave rocked the boat momentarily, but was gone and on it's way within moments. The noise had died down to and the only thing anyone could here were Legacy's engines.

Coming across the Apollo and the Triumph Mickie signalled them to join Legacy as they came about to go and inspect the damage they had caused.

"How are the other ships?" Mickie asked as one of the rebels acknowledged her transmission.

"Mark has stayed behind as one of the UAN ships surrendered and he wanted to take the ship." The rebel said and Mickie gave Beth a nod, it had already begun.

Coming across the destruction was a shock to all of them, the port looked like it had been flattened by a giant foot, everything was gone, Mickie looked out of the window and saw the trees almost lying flat against smashed houses.

What they could see from the ship was probably only half of the devastation, not to mention the radiation that would have spread killing thousands, Mickie almost felt guilt, almost that was until she saw Beth's face, the relief she saw there was enough for her to smile slightly.

"Mr Debasie send a message to the Island, tell them that if they come after us, or our friends again then there are plenty more where that came from." Mickie said as she sat back down in her chair and crossed her legs.

"Mr Rhodes come about, take us home."

Beth stood once again in the observation lounge, she had only been in here once, it was for Kofi's funeral and now she felt like it was an appropriate place for her to morn her brother. John had been a good man at heart, some of his decisions had been questionable but she still loved him, and he had loved her of that she had no doubt. Turning now at the sound of someone clearing their throat she was not surprised to find Mickie standing in the doorway looking past her and out of the window.

"How long do you think it will take them to respond to our little message?" Beth asked turning more fully now to look the Captain in the eyes.

"I don't know maybe a couple of days, but Mark said he is getting word to the rest of the rebels and letting them know of our little victory." Mickie replied walking further into the room and standing beside Beth and looking out across the ocean. The sky was turning a beautiful shade of red and taking in a deep breath Mickie wrapped her arms around herself and tilted her head to the side.

"There will always be more battles Beth, for every Sambo or Masamba we get rid of, there will be another to take his place." Mickie intoned hoping the woman who stood next to her got her point.

"If they are out there, then we can only hope to take them out." Beth said not looking at Mickie but keeping her eyes focused on the ever changing sky.

"This is just the beginning of your road to freedom you know."

"I know, but a beginning is something I didn't even think was possible a few months ago." Beth replied this time Mickie could here a slight hitch in her voice and she couldn't not look at her friend any more.

"Neither could I. a few months ago all I had to worry about was not scratching the paint on the navy's shiny new ship." Mickie said a slight smile on her face as Beth returned it.

"Sorry to tell you think but I think you failed." Beth said allowing one side of her mouth to quirk up and Mickie chuckled slightly.

"I won't tell if you don't." That set them both of laughing for a second before Mickie clutched on to Beth's hand and caught her attention back again.

"Are you still planning on staying and fighting, because the offer of coming with us is still very much open." Mickie said and Beth took in a deep breath.

"You know I keep thinking to myself, just one more push Bethy, one more invention, one more UAN ship captured, that will be enough, you will have avenged your husbands death. It never is enough is it Mickie?" Beth said a lone tear spilling from the blondes' eye as Mickie brushed it away with her thumb.

"No I have been waiting for the day my dad pat's me on the head and say, you have done enough Daddy is proud, but I will be cold in my grave before that day happens, it doesn't stop me from trying though." Mickie said as both women looked at each other finally realising what they had in common, why they had been so close right from the beginning and never having to talk about it.

Both women turned around simultaneously and watched as the sun set beyond the horizon as Legacy sailed on homeward bound.

Ok one more and then this epic will be finished, oh I am sad, hope you liked the action filled chapter and will be tuning in for the conclusion which will come quickly as the reviews do lol. Thanks for reading.


	40. In this place where i belong

Here it is people, please enjoy.

In this place where I belong

Legacy cut a path through the water as it almost seemed to move out of the way of the ship, like it was letting an old friend past.

Cody was sat at the helm but there wasn't much for him to do, there was nothing out there, no one to bother them anymore and nothing to stand in their way. Checking his scanners once more and the course he had plotted back to Hawaii was still ok he turned his chair around to a distracted looking Randy.

"Commander maybe you should go and find her." Cody suggested as his commanding officer looked up at him and tried to smile but it fell some what short.

"No she wants space." Randy replied not knowing exactly what Mickie had wanted when she had left the bridge earlier, but her command to him that he had the bridge was enough to tell him she wanted him to stay where he was.

"They all want space until they have it, then they want you back." Ted said from over Randy's shoulder and that did make him smile. Tuning on his seat Randy gave the blonde a quizzical look but Ted just chose to ignore him.

"You know I do fancy a leg stretch, how long until we reach Hawaii Mr Rhodes?" Randy asked standing up and casually peering over Cody's shoulder.

"Another five hours sir." He replied and he knew that was all Randy needed to know.

"Mr Debasie you have the bridge." Randy said as he strode onto the lift and headed towards Mickie's cabin.

Melina was just listening to her engines, she had made all of the repairs she could without stopping the ship and giving her an all out over hall. Melina knew that Legacy was in desperate need of a good over hall but the time had never been right, there was always something, another battle another mission, but now maybe she would get her chance to finally fix the holes in her sides and the battle scars along her hull.

Turning and heading for her office Melina notice Kofi's absence not for the first time, she realised that normally the young engineer would have had a mug of coffee standing by and some calming words to pacify her when she had repairs to do and couldn't make them. Sitting now in her chair she swivelled so she could see the picture of her team hanging on the wall. The fame was slightly cracked and there was a split in the glass but she could still make out all the smiling faces as they kicked started Legacy's engines for the first time and then posed for the picture.

Getting up and taking the picture off the wall Melina took a closer look wiping the dust off with her sleeve she realised just how lucky she was not to have lost anyone else.

"Hey Melina." Randy said almost making her drop the photo Melina whirled around and scowled at Randy.

"God are you trying to give me a heart attack?" She said but a smile was already creeping on to her face.

"No sorry, have you seen the Captain?" Randy asked glancing around the very disorganised room but choosing to say nothing.

"No not since this morning, I have been meaning to talk to her though." Melina said and she saw Randy's face drop and she quickly changed tact.

"But it can wait nothing I can do until we have docked anyway." Randy smiled at her he knew she was letting him go alone to find Mickie.

"Ok well I will see you later Lieutenant." The use of her rank was friendly almost like a nickname and Melina smiled at his retreating form.

Randy didn't know where else to try, he had gone to the mess hall but no one had seen her there, gone back to the bridge, but she was not there either, no one had seen her or Beth for a while. Randy figured that they were together and so could be in Beth's cabin. Knocking on the door he got a reply and he stepped into the room.

"Hi Randy I was just catching a shower what can I do for you." Beth said running a towel through her damp hair and pointing to the available chair.

"Oh no I just wanted to know if you had seen Mickie?" he said refusing the offer to sit down and trying not to look to interested in Beth in a bath towel.

"Oh last time I saw her she was in the observation lounge, don't know if she is still there though." Beth replied completely unaware of Randy's awkwardness as he thanked her and made his exit. Beth shook her head and smiled to herself as she finished towel drying her hair and moved into the bedroom to put on some clothes, it was time to get back to the bridge and see this boat home.

Mickie was still in the observation lounge, she had a fresh cup of coffee clutched within her hands a far away look on her face. Randy approached her quietly but cleared his throat as he got closer to alert her to his presence.

"Randy hi." Mickie smiled up at him but then turned her gaze back out on to the night sky.

"Hard to believe we have just changed the world." She said and Randy had to admit he had never thought of it like that, but it's what they had done really.

"I guess, now I suppose it's time for us to go home." Randy said taking the seat opposite Mickie and searching her eyes.

"Is it Randy, can we come to this world turn it on it's head and then just walk away?" Mickie asked him her eyes begging him for answers he did not have.

"I don't know, if we go back we will all be able to see our families again, that is if they don't lock us all in the loony bin first for telling them what we did to their ship." Randy said with a smile and Mickie almost returned it.

"They will split us up what ever Randy you know that, and this crew, not to mention all the people we will leave behind to fend for themselves." Mickie said standing up and walking purposefully across the room to the radio.

"This is Captain James all hands abandon post and meet in the observation lounge." She knew the announcement had gone out two minutes later when the nearest crew started filtering into the room.

Mickie and Randy had not exchanged any words since Mickie had called for the others to join them, there was no need, what they needed to talk about had to be a decision for the entire crew.

It only took the crew of Legacy five minutes to come to their Captain, now Mickie was staring at just over fifty faces who were all willing her to talk.

"What I have to say concerns you all, I will not make a decision for this entire crew on something that will effect your entire future." Mickie paused and her eyes were caught by Randy's as they held a deep affection that she had only just started to notice.

"We have a choice, and I am going to hand the decision over to you." Mickie said with a small nod of the head as people started to chat amongst themselves at what this could be.

"People quite." That was Beth as the noise rose and Mickie shook her head. The noise died down quickly and Mickie continued with a small thank you in Beth's direction.

"The decision is simple, do we attempt to get home, from what we have figured all we have to do is scan for the breach in the triangle to open, with the UAN off our backs we can patrol the border and go through as soon as it comes back. Or we can stay right here, make a home with the rebels and help them solidify there new found victory. I would like to remind you there are risks to both options.

If we return it will mean a lot of questions the crew will be split up and I wouldn't be surprised if some of us are decommissioned. However we will be home with our families, oh and not getting shot at." Mickie said and Randy almost laughed out loud but the moment didn't seem quite appropriate.

"If we stay we get to see what difference we can make to this world, maybe change it forever, we can stay together and make a home here. However there is no guarantee we will survive, Legacy is just one ship and even with the best crew there is only so long she will be able to go on for. I will only take a unanimous vote on this one so think very carefully. I don't expect a decision right away." Mickie stopped and examined all the faces she could see. A murmur arose from the crowd as they spoke amongst themselves.

"I think we should stay." A voice came out of the crowd and the crew parted until Mickie had a clear line of view to Ted who was perched on a table at the back of the room.

"My father said once that home is where the heart is, or at least he claimed it as his line, I have my doubts. This ship is our home, you guys are my family and this world needs us more than the US navy ever did. I am sick of the bureaucracy, the rules that say two people who love each other can't be together." Ted said pointing to Mickie and Randy which brought Mickie out in a blush.

"And I know we can make a real difference here, we are being given the opportunity to change the world, how can we turn that down, so I would like to make a toast." Ted said getting up on to the table and holding out a polystyrene cup. It was not champagne, but only water but no one noticed. Grabbing glasses cups and mugs from around the room the rest of the Legacy crew raised there glasses to.

"To Legacy and this place where we belong."

"To Legacy." The rest of the crew intoned as they drank their beverage and Mickie knew in that moment that Legacy was going to be staying right where she was.

Mickie sat on the beach in Hawaii, the water was coming in and wetting the bottoms of her feet and she was toying with the idea of moving backwards before the tied came in too far and she ended up with a soaked behind. It was too peaceful though, the sky was a beautiful cerulean blue and the sun's heat was making her feel warm and cosy. She took a glance to her right where Beth and Cody were sat making what looked like a sand sculpture of a ship which bore a small resemblance to Legacy now moored up and having her well deserved maintenance. Mickie grinned to herself as she told Melina to have at it and the woman had almost cried for joy. Leaning back on her arms Mickie felt strong hands wrap around her waist as breath tickled her ear.

"Penny for them." Randy whispered as Beth yelled at Cody for knocking over her sculpture as the tied got to it soon after.

"You know I wasn't really thinking of anything." Mickie answered honestly as she turned her head to look at him.

"Wow must be a first I will have to write this in my log." Randy said playfully as Beth plonked herself down next to them and folded her arms.

"Spoil sport." She winged at Cody who was grinning at her as he sat behind her and pulled her up on to his lap.

"Yeah but you still love me." Cody said which earned him a playful slap and Randy chuckled at the scene.

"You know I could think of worse places to be." Randy said as Mickie turned her attention back to him and smiled.

"Much worse." She agreed as Beth and Cody finally settled down enjoying the sunshine with Mickie and Randy.

"Mickie." Randy said her name long and slow so Mickie knew something she probably wouldn't like was coming.

"Yes Randy?" She asked not looking at him but pulling down her lucky sunglasses which had survived everything, so Mickie now knew they truly were lucky.

"Marry me." He said turning her to face him so she knew he wasn't joking and Mickie's face stilled for a second.

Cody and Beth turned towards them to as the moment suspended them in time for a second before Mickie's mouth fell open with just a single word.

"Yes."

Ok there it is I think I almost cried at finishing this one. Its kind of a bitter sweet feeling I guess, anyway I hope you all enjoyed this one and will let me know just how much with a review lol. Well I am not above begging thank you for reading and I hope you will keep your eyes peeled as I might be starting something new in the near future.


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